Namely that if they don't delay the release of this game, Prey is going to suck. Majorly. Dear readers, I can't remember the last time an hour felt so long. Let me take a step back and start from the beginning.
The Prey demo starts off promisingly, with a cryptic series of tests and a slightly unsettling sci-fi world. It all looks intriguing, despite an odd bit of opening credits with bad techno in the background. The minute the testing sequence stops, though, it becomes clear that, if the demo is any indication, Prey doesn't have an original bone in its body. There were those that criticized Arkane Studios' Dishonored franchise for its similarities to Bioshock, but Dishonored has nothing on Prey in terms of wearing its influence on its sleeves. Prey downright copies games such as Bioshock (the first weapon you get is a wrench, there's a guy talking to you over the radio with a cryptic, symbolic codename, and he guides you to the game's skill giving system, which is located in a display case a lot like the first gatherer's garden in Bioshock), Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (they literally took the symbolic first key code you get in Mankind Divided and made it the symbolic first key code you get in Prey. The exact code) and Half Life 2 (the so-called "mimics" are an exact replica of the spider-like head crab variants that are found in Ravenholme). Now, wearing influence on your sleeve isn't an instant negative for a game. After all, Assassin's Creed is basically just historical Prince of Persia. However, what is an instant negative for a game is when the game in question fails to emulate its influencers well. There wasn't a single piece of gameplay in this demo that wasn't a hassle. Gaining new skills? A hassle, thanks to the terrible user interface. Melee attacking? A hassle, thanks to the clunky feedback that makes Skyrim's melee combat feel meaty. Shooting? A hassle, thanks to the paper thin feeling of the guns. Stealth? That was a hassle as well. Every time the gameplay threw something promising at me, it managed to trip over its own feet and remind me that anything Prey can do, a million other games can do better. By far the most promising aspect of the combat that was shown in this demo was the kind of enemy known as a "mimic" (and I may be spelling that wrong). These enemies can change shape to look like absolutely anything in the environment. I looked at that concept and though, "wow, that's a really promising cat and mouse gameplay idea!" At first, it was. I was in a room with a mimic in it, and I found myself peering over my shoulder every few seconds to make sure I hadn't already passed it. It was an interesting bit of horror gameplay that would have made the game scary even while the character was armed. However, I've never seen a promising idea get old so quickly. After the first true encounter with a mimic, they just become...you guessed it....a hassle.
You know what else was a hassle? The fingernails on chalkboard soundtrack. Its unmistakably the work of Mick Gordon, who composed the masterful soundtrack to my Game of the Year for 2016, Doom. This soundtrack is terrible, though! Its this terrible blend of techno and dubstep that was always too loud no matter how much I turned the music down and it just made me want to tear my hair out. As if that weren't enough, if the music is still going, that means an enemy is still in the room and knows where you are. So, there goes any horror that might come with ambiguity. In addition, one of the ways you can locate a mimic is by listening for their small clicking sounds, but can you guess what you can't hear when the terrible soundtrack is blaring at full volume despite being turned down to 10%?
I wish that were the end of the problems with sound, but it isn't! Several sound effects are downright missing! Sometimes dropping a heavy object won't produce any noise, but walking sounds like they hired my upstairs neighbors to record the sound!
And sound isn't the only place where this demo was buggy! There was a stretch of time where I couldn't swing my wrench because it was locked in a swinging animation. I understand that this is just a demo, but it's a demo for a game that's set to be released in six days. That's just unacceptable, and both Bethesda and Arkane should be ashamed of the lack of polish this close to release.
Before I end, let me talk about what I liked. I generally liked the setting, but if the gameplay doesn't stop blowing, it'll be hard to appreciate it. I also believe that this story could be pretty good...provided that Arkane studios implements a single solitary idea into it that they didn't steal from somebody else. I can see three scenarios: 1) the story actually succeeds, 2) the story becomes predictable, 3) the story becomes predictable and the rest of the game is made up of Dead Space-esque fetch quests.
That's it. I came out of this demo liking two things, both of which had giant "if"s hanging over them. That's just shameful.
As I said at the start, the demo is free and readily available for you to play for yourself. I recommend that you go out and play it, and if you hate it as much as I did, the only thing you will have lost is an hour of your time as opposed to the $60 you would have wasted if you'd purchased the game.
I understand that a demo doesn't necessarily represent the rest of the game, but after playing the demo for Prey, I can't say I want to spend any of my hard earned cash on the "finished" product. I don't like missing out on games, even if I have the sneaking suspicion that I won't like them, but playing just an hour of Prey was a chore on every level.
I won't be giving a score out because this is just an impressions article, not a solid judgment on the product (despite the statements I've been making about how the game is going to suck). However, I will say this: I will not be purchasing Prey unless I get it at an extreme discount or unless I happen to see something in it that peaks my interest again.
Until the next article, my review of Nier: Automata, this has been a Right Trigger first look. Good Night.
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