Prey

Prey is one of the most innovative and subtly annoying games I've ever played on the 360. It shows both brilliance and age.

What I know of Prey is that it is an age-old project finally brought to life by its developers. I recall seing a preview of it at last year's E3 or someplace important. Everybody was treating the authors with much respect so I was interested in looking forward to the game. But I completely forgot about it and it wasn't until about an hour into the game that I realized where I was.

1. Prey is the creepiest game I've played in a long time. It's the slimiest world I can recall being in, and the alien biotech is truly alien. I finished the game and I still don't have names for the creatures and weapons.

2. The use of gravity in this game makes its style of play and the environments extremely unusual. It makes you wonder why nobody else has done anything like it. It makes me want to say that Prey is really the first thoroughly 3D game in the industry. In the world of shooters this innovation is totally unique, like the psychic powers of Psy-Ops and the unusual skills of Riddick in the Escape from Butcher Bay game. There is nothing to compare with the cool of standing sideways on a wall, aiming to the left and watching an enemy fall up.

3. Prey's fleshing out of the game is juvenile. There are really no humans to interact with that add to the creepiness of the overall storyline. Maybe it's because I'm fresh from several months of playing Oblivion but the human, even the beastial element of the AI is pretty lousy. It's not mucked up completely with idiot boss battles (there are only about 4), but for a would be Cherokee warrior, your protagonist is never called to do anything but destroy every living thing in this world.

4. The environments are spectacular. They go from the DOOMlike dark and claustrophobic, to the intricate three dimesnional mazy, to the double gravity system of twin asteroids.

5. The dialog sucks, period. The game could use a whole lot more humanity and voice acting. In the beginning, things were very compelling because it appeared that there would be a lot of humans that you would encounter in the space ship that would assist you through various parts, but that never materialized. Instead we just had zombies. I will give props to the use of the radio DJ, but the parallel plot never materialized, therefore making it a real throwaway effect.

6. The spirit world life-restoring minigame is inspired. That's really a great concept and I expect that many games should copy that. It never really got tiring although I thought it would, but the idea that you have to earn your life back is great. On the one hand, it obviates the need for formal checkpoints, and you never have a situation where you get caught at a checkpoint with 2% life that sometimes ruins really good games. Secondly, when you're never guaranteed to return to your savepoint with full life, that's a very good challenge too. Very well done.

7. On the whole it's not a very challenging game when played on the normal level although there were some puzzles that had me really stumped for a long time. Some of the more interesting puzzles and levels could have been a whole lot harder and I'm glad they left them simple, because playing in 3D where any wall or floor can become a cieling is very radical. That could burn out your brain.

8. The Ghost walking is also brilliant. I just wish the ghost could have been a little bit more deadly with his bow. Still, it's a great plus to know that you can work this kind of magic. I loved it in PsyOps and it was done well here too.

9. The eagle familiar was sometimes useful and sometimes distracting. I would have liked a way to power it up to help fight off some enemies, or be able to make it do specific tasks.

10. The multidimensional references back to places on Earth was a brilliant touch that added to the creepiness, especially when the jukebox could be heard. On the other hand we could have done without the slot machines.

Overall, this is a very innovative game you just don't want to miss. If they add some of the unique elements to their next game, it will be a triumph. Prey is a flawed classic.