|
Wow... Prey is finally here. I remember reading about how great Prey was going to be, before Quake 1 was even released, in like 1996. Fast forward 10 years and it's finally on shelves. Built on the Doom 3 engine, this is a fairly run-of-the-mill FPS with a few additions to set it apart.
First, there's the teleport system, where small portals will appear on the map and will allow the player to teleport to another location. Sounds fairly basic, but it does have some neat aspects. You can see through the portal to the other side, and can even shoot through it at enemies on the other side. Sometimes you'll come across portals that'll actually let you see yourself, but from a different angle. These portals not only transport you to different locations, but also play around a bit with one of the other neat aspects of this game: Gravity.
With the developers experimenting with gravity, the teleporting can really create some interesting situations. You can actually go through a portal and suddenly find yourself standing on the ceiling, or on the floor. It can even shrink your character, as in one situation you walk past a small glass case holding a small rock, then later on in the level you actually are teleported on this rock (which obviously seems much bigger) and race across it, shooting baddies.
Speaking of shooting, the guns, as far as I've seen, are all (with the exception of the melee weapon, a big wrench that has a tendency to get covered in blood, almost to the point of emulating Soldier of Fortune's knife) alien weapons that, while they may look strange, fit into the typical FPS weapon catagories.
So far the AI seems competent but not overly smart, compared to other recent FPS', such as Half-Life 2. They do toss a grenade now and then, but for the most part they stand back and shoot you from a distance. Some animals in the game do rush you, but these are usually the execption, not the rule.
All things considered, while there are better FPS' out there, the use of the teleporting and gravity effects give this a neat gimmick to seperate it from the pack. I would wait for this to go down in price before buying, but it's definitely worth picking up at some point.
|
