Ben-DutkaPrey never did come to the PlayStation 3 but the sequel will indeed hit Sony’s machine, in addition to the Xbox 360 and PC. Therefore, it’s time to take a look at Human Head’s new production, which is almost a complete departure from the original title. For instance, even though the first ended with a lot of unanswered questions, we will not continue the story of Domasi “Tommy” Tawadi; we will step into the shoes of a new protagonist: Killian Samuels. Plus, we’ll be in an entirely different setting, which may or may not appeal to fans of the first adventure. Still, at its core, Prey 2 remains an action-oriented game with plenty of interesting twists, so it’ll be easily recognizable. But will the PS3 owners find it intriguing…?
Samuels wakes up on planet Exodus and suffers from a bout of amnesia; he has no idea how he got there, or what has happened since the aliens bonked him on the head and took him away. Samuels is a US Marshal and as he wanders around Exodus, he’ll see a futuristic city that’s just begging to be explored. And here’s where we come across one of the more significant additions: this hero is quite agile and in truth, his abilities are most reminiscent of Faith in Mirror’s Edge . There may be plenty of flying cars and other cool methods of transportation but Samuels prefers to run…and leap, and slide, and scale. He’s capable of bounding all over the colorful – yet still intimidating city – and he’ll even have the benefit of a pair of hover boots. Oh, the possibilities…
You will become a bounty hunter when the game starts, and hunting down targets in Exodus might be challenging. In addition to the new control mechanic with a healthy focus on acrobatics, we’ll also have a more open-ended quest that involves a lot of decision-making. We’re looking at a cyberpunk, “Blade Runner,” GTA-like atmosphere, and we’ll be able to locate and speak to certain NPCs and other characters, typically in an effort to extract information. And Human Head says choosing how to tackle a certain objective is part of the fun. We can also expect a few more fresh elements, such as the nifty gadgets Samuels will have at his disposal; for instance, he’ll be able to scan areas from afar in order to locate certain targets and other points of interest.
As you might expect, because we have a choice, those choices will have consequences. Hence, a morality system. So when running around the city, you can just shove an alien to his death, just ‘cuz you’re feeling particularly…impish that day. The added variety will also play a very large role, as your targets will present you with various challenges and your agility opens up different pathways. As a frame of reference, the first game was a linear shooter with a portal-related twist that sorta toyed with our perspective. The sequel is…well, what you see here. That’s quite the shift, isn’t it? Oh, and if you’re asking about multiplayer, don’t bother; this is one game that won’t feature a multiplayer option, so it had better succeed entirely on the strength of the fresh single-player gameplay and style.
