Developer: Arkane Studios 
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Rated: M for Mature
Released: May 5, 2017
Completed: November 26, 2017
System Shock 2 is one of the greatest video games of all-time. That's become a well acknowledged fact over the course of the last decade. It melds first-person gameplay with deep RPG mechanics, gives the player almost unparalleled freedom, and crafts a brilliant story in an atmospheric, often frightening environment, making it one of the most emergent gameplay experiences even 18 years after release.
I hated Prey, the long-awaited 3D Realms shooter that was released on the Xbox 360 and PC in 2006. Like the even longer-awaited Duke Nukem Forever, it was a massive letdown, and quite frankly, it made me physically ill to play. It gave me headaches, and I associate my time spent playing it with physical discomfort.
As a result, I almost passed on Prey this year, thinking it was a sequel to the latter. In reality, the two games share nothing except their name, and Prey 2017 is not only a love-letter to System Shock 2, it may as well be System Shock 3. It incorporates so many elements of what made SS2 such a great game, including the first-person gameplay, player autonomy, and a beautifully realized space station that bears plenty of resemblance to Shock's Von Braun.
Drill deeper, and the similarities become even more apparent. Both games feature a nearly identical inventory system, workable stealth mechanics that make sneaking around and avoiding encounters a (mostly) viable way to play, a competent combat system for when things get hairy, an RPG-like upgrade system, and even psionic powers in addition to conventional weapons. There's even several AIs whose allegiances may or may not be aligned with yours, a brilliant plot twist, and a device in the game called the Looking Glass, named lovingly after the studio that developed System Shock 2 and would rebrand themselves as Irrational Games for the Bioshock franchise.
Yes, Prey is the closest thing we have to a true System Shock sequel until Nightdive Studios finishes their work on the real thing in god-knows-when. It's just a shame that all the people who jumped on the System Shock bandwagon and have been clamoring for a sequel have completely overlooked Prey.
Prey isn't a game for everyone. It's not going to satisfy the Call of Duty gamer who expects any game in a first-person perspective to be all about shooting things. It has the pace of a good horror movie, keeping you on edge, waiting for the next scare. You'll stand at the entrance to a hallway, debating internally about whether you're ready to see what's on the other end.
After the first of several twists, you'll explore the space station Talos I, which has been infested by an alien lifeform known as the Typhon. Their gelatinous black appearance, telekinetic powers, and resilience make them intimidating foes - even the small mimics, which can take the shape of anything. As you wander the station, trying to unravel the mystery and escape with your life, you'll constantly feel a sense of paranoia that every piece of scenery could be a mimic, while encounters with larger Typhon will leave you scrambling for cover, desperately trying to recover health while you chip away at theirs. Nothing in Prey is what it seems, and your safety is not assured. The game does a wonderful job of empowering the player, and giving them the tools to survive, but leaves it up to them as to how best to do so.
Prey is all about player freedom. There are no less than eight different skill trees - three basic human trees, three based on the Typhon's powers, and one each for your suit and your special visor, which allow you to swap chipsets in and out for added benefits. There are so many options for every scenario, be it combat or navigating the station. The game's most unique weapon, the GLOO gun, fires a sticky substance than can be used to incapacitate enemies or reach parts of the environment you might not otherwise be able to. It can snuff out fires, temporarily stop electrical current from arcing, or just act as stepping stones as you carefully jump up a non-functional gravity shaft to reach a new area.
You can unlock hacking and repair skills to bypass security locks and access new data or caches of supplies. You can increase your effectiveness with standard firearms or more exotic tech if you prefer to face your enemies head-on, or focus on stealth to avoid detection and take out enemies silently. You can strategically carry and place turrets to conserve precious ammunition, or you can beat the Typhon at their own game by using neuromods to give yourself telekinetic abilities to rival theirs - at the expense of those same turrets detecting you as an enemy. There's a crafting system that lets you create ammo, health kits, weapons, upgrade mods, and unique items required to progress the story, provided you have the necessary materials - not unlike System Shock 2's chemical compounds. You can tackle a variety of side missions, locate deceased or surviving crew members, or focus solely on the story missions. Everything you do is completely up to you.
All throughout my experience - 35 hours in all - I felt like I was playing a new System Shock, and I loved just about every second of it. I loved that I felt frail, even towards the end of the game. I avoided encounters with larger, more dangerous Typhon enemies because I was low on health kits or ammo. I loved that the enemies always felt like they were a threat. I loved that I was still scared by a mimic revealing itself even after the 100th time it happened. I loved getting my hands on every neuromod, getting one step closer to that next upgrade I coveted. I loved exploring the space station. I loved uncovering more and more of the story, which never felt cliche or predictable to me.
Just about the only things I didn't love were the late-game "one more thing" missions. You know those missions. When you think you've completed your objective, but the game tells you, "Oh sorry, this door is locked, go find the keycard." This resulted in a lot of backtracking, which comes with a fair share of loading time as you transition between areas, but overall it's not a major issue.
There's a touch of jankiness here and there as well, a few bugs that make the physics go wonky, but nothing game-breaking and no crashes, which is impressive given how persistent the world is. Areas that you have previously explored will still be littered with dead Typhon organs, GLOO, and debris. The game runs at a locked 30 FPS, which is perfectly fine because this is not an action shooter. It's a thinking-man's shooter-RPG hybrid, just like System Shock 2 or Deus Ex.
Graphically, it's not the greatest looking game. The overall world detail is impressive, but things like signs in the environment are often low quality textures, and there are a lot of reused elements. It's not a bad looking title either, however. The station itself is fascinating to explore, and it uses a surprisingly warm and rich color palette in places like the main lobby or executive offices. There are also moments where you'll step outside the station and into the vastness of space, where the sense of scale is truly remarkable. It made me wish for a Prey VR Experience, just so the scale wasn't confined to the rectangle of my television screen.
Prey also delivers on sound. The Typhon have a very distinctive white noise-like sound that signals their appearance and often raised hairs on my neck. The largest of the creatures, the Nightmare, unleashes a terrifying, ear-piercing scream and when you hear it, you'd better be prepared or you'd better start running until it stops hunting you because it's one tough cookie. The deafening blast of your shotgun sells the power of the weapon. Even some of the more incidental sound effects are satisfying, like the sound of unlocked upgrades.
More importantly, the voice acting is generally superb, as it must be for such a story driven game. Morgan and his brother Alex are both standouts, though there's an NPC here or there who falls well short of the benchmark.
If not for my friend, I may have skipped Prey because I mistakenly assumed it was related to that OTHER Prey. That would have been a real tragedy, given that it has much more in common with one of my favorite games ever. He's never even played System Shock 2, and he still loved Prey, but I think those who've been waiting for a true successor have finally had their prayers answered. Bioshock was a great game, but it was much more of a standard shooter than a true hybrid experience. Prey feels like a game out of time - a lovingly crafted homage or fan-made sequel with a great story and deep gameplay. There's no question it's one of my favorite games of 2017.
Prey was completed on a standard PlayStation 4 with no cheats.

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