Neb on 20/8/2016 at 17:11
Mimic enemies that dynamically take the form of environmental objects to hunt the player as a kind of horror version of prop-hunt sounds good to me. It isn't even meant to be the main focus.
We are going to hear a lot about Prey 2 though, so I wonder whether the reboot will catch people by surprise if it turns out to be a great game and everyone has these low expectations. I did look at the old gameplay footage of Prey 2 again, and despite the concept and world looking fantastic, the systems they actually have in place look rusty as hell - half-baked cover shooter and parkour mechanics that don't look like they'd hold up, enemies that wait around for you to catch up with them, etc. Honestly, from what they were showing (probably the best they had to show), it looks like it could have easily slipped into the same niche that EYE: Divine Cybermancy did. There are a lot of people out there being cynical about Bethesda's reasons for canning the project, but it doesn't surprise me a great deal from what little I know.
GodzillaX8 on 21/8/2016 at 04:25
I just don't understand why everyone is so upset that it isn't tied to the original Prey game. I think most of the people complaining about it probably never actually played Prey, and just want to hate Bethesda for something. Far Cry 2 had literally nothing to do with Far Cry, and it was still a great game.
froghawk on 21/8/2016 at 06:45
Indeed, Prey was essentially just another corridor shooter with some novel mechanics... it wasn't exactly the second coming. This is probably better off not tied it. Of course, it would also better off not using the name....
Nothing I'm seeing here so far is getting me particularly excited, but I trust Arkane to deliver something awesome. I didn't pay much attention to Dishonored early on, either, but ended up loving it.
Sulphur on 21/8/2016 at 07:00
Well, Prey as a franchise has some long-term stigmata attached to it. The initial 3D Realms game that we were promised would have been the second coming if it was actually released as DN3D's follow-up; as it stands, the best ideas from it - the portal tech - wound up in the Prey HH made, and those were the best parts of an otherwise conflicted FPS with some pretty fucked up shit chained to some grotty-as-hell shooting.
It's a franchise spun from an array of promises and expectations, a lot broken and a few kept, and that troubled history casts Arkane's project in a pretty weird light. It really would be better off being called something else if it doesn't have much to do with the original concept.
gkkiller on 21/8/2016 at 07:15
I still haven't got around to playing the OG Prey, so I'm judging this one on its own grounds. I can't tell what the hell this game is. Is it a Portal style puzzle game? Is it a Deus Ex-esque FPS/RPG hybrid? Is it a sci-fi Dishonored? The little gameplay we've seen so far points to a little bit of all three. Either way I do like the aesthetic, and Dishonored is my most replayed game of all time, so ... I'm almost definitely playing this.
froghawk on 21/8/2016 at 22:20
Quote Posted by Neb
I did look at the old gameplay footage of Prey 2 again, and despite the concept and world looking fantastic, the systems they actually have in place look rusty as hell - half-baked cover shooter and parkour mechanics that don't look like they'd hold up, enemies that wait around for you to catch up with them, etc. Honestly, from what they were showing (probably the best they had to show), it looks like it could have easily slipped into the same niche that EYE: Divine Cybermancy did.
The more I think about it, the more I think this is probably how it would've turned out. I definitely believe that Human head thought they had a great game, and I believe Bethesda was being shady, but their comments about how the game wasn't up to snuff were probably also true.
The original sounds awesome on paper - between the portals, reversing gravity, gravity-defying walkways, spirit walking, native american protagonist, etc. it sounds like a really cool game. But once the novelty of those things wears off, they become gimmicks, and we're left with a shooter that feels stuck in the late 90s/early 2000s that's barely 5hrs long but still feels too long because the shooting and vehicle mechanics just aren't fun and the environments and plot are dull and recycled. So if the sequel ended up being a dull game based around a few cool ideas, I wouldn't be at all surprised.
Additionally, for the people complaining that Arkane's game has no ties to the original at all - Prey 2 was already ditching the mechanics that defined the first one, the protagonist, the setting, and going for more of an open world approach over the original's strict linearity. So why does it make a difference if the only thing Arkane keeps is being hunted by aliens on a giant space ship/station? Especially considering that the original game wasn't even made by the original Prey developers, and the only similarities it shared with the very original concept was the portals...
Vicarious on 22/8/2016 at 19:50
Doesn't it boil down to "I don't care for the original so why would you"?
It matters due to how Bethesda handled the whole issue. They slapped the Prey name onto this game just because they didn't have anything else to do with it. They pissed on all the work HH has done. They called it Prey to make sure the previous game is completely forgotten. The 'Prey is ultimately about aliens hunting you on a space station' is the most retarded excuse I've ever heard to explain no ties with the previous game.
I love Arkane, all power to them. I hope they make a really cool game but Bethesda can go fuck themselves. This isn't Prey. I'm sure Arkane would not have called it Prey. That's what annoys people who actually enjoyed the original title.
froghawk on 23/8/2016 at 00:51
Well, of course. I don't disagree with any of that. All I'm saying is that it's not a one sided situation. While I believe that Human Head got screwed and Bethesda did some really messed up stuff, Beth's claims that the game wasn't up to snuff were probably true. Bethesda and Human Head were both probably telling the truth to some degree while omitting things they didn't want the public to know, and Arkane shouldn't be forced to make a sequel because they're using the name. They've made it clear that they saw the opportunity to make a game they wanted to make when the name became available - it wasn't forced on them. They opted to do this. And is that kind of weird, given the history of the name? Yes, but I also get how hard it is to sell a new IP to a publisher. If they have to call their game Call of Duty 9000 to make the game they want to make, fine.
As far as the aliens hunting you on a space ship bit - my only point there was demonstrate that this may actually have more in common with the original game than Prey 2 was going to, even if by coincidence.
Sulphur on 23/8/2016 at 04:40
Perhaps there's been some interpretation attributed to my post; my one point on this was that Arkane is better off naming their game something else instead of using a pre-existing IP that's had a meh track record anyway. If their game features things that hew too close to Prey 1 to decouple from it, then all right, that makes sense. Portals, aliens, reluctant Native Indian protagonist? Okay, have at it. As it stands, those have apparently been tossed out the airlock, so it's pretty much Arkane being chained to the IP whilst passive-aggressively flipping it the bird -- Beth really should just have let them do their System Shock analogue with a new name instead of forcing them down this path.
Also, using Prey 2 as an argument for 'it wasn't going to feature the same things anyway' doesn't make sense, since Prey 2's narrative was directly linked to Prey's, different protagonist notwithstanding.
Vicarious on 23/8/2016 at 05:55
Quote Posted by froghawk
As far as the aliens hunting you on a space ship bit - my only point there was demonstrate that this may actually have more in common with the original game than Prey 2 was going to, even if by coincidence.
Actually my target here was not you but Bethesda because they've used the same exact argument - they literally said that 'when you strip everything out, Prey is about being hunted by aliens on a space station'. Which is ridiculous. Going by that we have hundreds of 'Prey games' out there.