The latest game from 3D Realms to use the Doom 3 engine isn't especially ground breaking. However the Physics and portal technology, as well as good game play, will keep the game fun all the way.
There's really nothing new to reveal about Prey as a game. Unlike the horror aspects of Doom 3, this is more along the excellent lines of Quake 4 in that enemies come at you and you kill them. With more puzzles.
That isn't necessarily a bad thing and there are some changes to the game that set it apart from other games in it's class. For example, beyond the first few sections of the game, it's no longer possible for the character to be killed. Once you die, you go through a ten second "minigame" and get dumped back in your body with 50-100% health and a variable amount of manna. In addition, it will be possible to "Spirit Walk", this allows you to walk through force fields and across some otherwise impassable chasms to do things on the other side. However beyond merely being an extra puzzle element, spirit walking can allow you to scout out corners and portals without having to physically step through yourself, as well as assassinate your enemies with a bow and arrow while remaining completely safe from their weapons.
By far the most interesting thing about Prey however, are the new portal and gravity effects. While I don't know enough about programming to appreciate how difficult it would be to implement them properly, the various size, gravity and portal tricks add a great deal to the gameplay. Nothing world shattering, but a sizeable addition that wasn't just tacked on. The new gravity effects let you run on the ceiling or walls, or just have "down" switch around at various points in the same level or even hallway, along with all associated physics. By far one of the best implementations of this is in the sections with Floating Moons. Down may point towards the outer hull of the world-ship, but only until you get close enough to the moons. In which case down becomes towards the moon's surface, this is hardly a hack either as in-air dogfights cause enemies to fall towards the moons or outer hull depending on where they lost thrust. The least believable part is that Tommy always manages to land on his feet regardless of the degree of switch, at no point does he break a fall with his neck. In essence, Prey has more realistic, fake physics.
Interestingly, Prey was also meant to deliver a moral lesson. I'm not sure what this lesson is however. Spiritualism has always made me cringe, it certainly has more plot than Doom or Quake however there probably won't be any lasting lessons derived from this. If the character's girlfriend was meant to be worth saving to the player, this has failed. The nearly constant complaining every time she turns up, which does not stop even when the player is taking fire or dodging seemingly inescapable death is the most irritating thing in the entire game. Especially memorable is the quote "Do you owe them Money?", yes, Aliens have come to Earth to get their money back from your Boyfriend.
Fortunately for those of us using Linux, this game runs almost perfectly in Crossover Office and Wine. The only problem was the single time that the mouse was mapped, for some reason, to the wasd keys, however this was solved by reloading. Beyond that both graphics and sound were beyond reproach.
That isn't necessarily a bad thing and there are some changes to the game that set it apart from other games in it's class. For example, beyond the first few sections of the game, it's no longer possible for the character to be killed. Once you die, you go through a ten second "minigame" and get dumped back in your body with 50-100% health and a variable amount of manna. In addition, it will be possible to "Spirit Walk", this allows you to walk through force fields and across some otherwise impassable chasms to do things on the other side. However beyond merely being an extra puzzle element, spirit walking can allow you to scout out corners and portals without having to physically step through yourself, as well as assassinate your enemies with a bow and arrow while remaining completely safe from their weapons.
By far the most interesting thing about Prey however, are the new portal and gravity effects. While I don't know enough about programming to appreciate how difficult it would be to implement them properly, the various size, gravity and portal tricks add a great deal to the gameplay. Nothing world shattering, but a sizeable addition that wasn't just tacked on. The new gravity effects let you run on the ceiling or walls, or just have "down" switch around at various points in the same level or even hallway, along with all associated physics. By far one of the best implementations of this is in the sections with Floating Moons. Down may point towards the outer hull of the world-ship, but only until you get close enough to the moons. In which case down becomes towards the moon's surface, this is hardly a hack either as in-air dogfights cause enemies to fall towards the moons or outer hull depending on where they lost thrust. The least believable part is that Tommy always manages to land on his feet regardless of the degree of switch, at no point does he break a fall with his neck. In essence, Prey has more realistic, fake physics.
Interestingly, Prey was also meant to deliver a moral lesson. I'm not sure what this lesson is however. Spiritualism has always made me cringe, it certainly has more plot than Doom or Quake however there probably won't be any lasting lessons derived from this. If the character's girlfriend was meant to be worth saving to the player, this has failed. The nearly constant complaining every time she turns up, which does not stop even when the player is taking fire or dodging seemingly inescapable death is the most irritating thing in the entire game. Especially memorable is the quote "Do you owe them Money?", yes, Aliens have come to Earth to get their money back from your Boyfriend.
Fortunately for those of us using Linux, this game runs almost perfectly in Crossover Office and Wine. The only problem was the single time that the mouse was mapped, for some reason, to the wasd keys, however this was solved by reloading. Beyond that both graphics and sound were beyond reproach.