Prey Performance Analysis/Reviews

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FlyingPenguin
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Prey Performance Analysis/Reviews

Post by FlyingPenguin »

Looks like the game runs fluidly on moderate hardware which is a relief after the Dishonored 2 fiasco. It's stupid they don't give you an FOV slider, but at least you can change FOV by editing a config file (you can also unlock the FPS cap this way).

I'm really stoked about this game. Waiting for braver first adopters than me to play through it first, and I want to read some DETAILED reviews from people who have played it for more than just a couple of hours, before committing.

So far no game killing bugs that I've heard of, although there is a bug in the crafting system that lets you make unlimited ammo, but that should be patched soon.

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Per ... ysis/Prey/
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Re: Prey Performance Analysis

Post by FlyingPenguin »

I don't generally like video reviews, but this guy does great reviews and he covers a lot of what I care about. I'm willing to buy the game right now just based on this alone, but I'm going to check out some more reviews, and the Steam comments.

NSFW!!!!

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Re: Prey Performance Analysis

Post by FlyingPenguin »

Well I pulled the trigger. Reviews are overwhelmingly positive on Steam. I'll let you know what I think when I've played a few hours.

There's instructions on how to adjust FOV and how to skip the unsinkable splash screens here:
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2017/0 ... h-screens/
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Re: Prey Performance Analysis

Post by Err »

I've been apprehensive about Prey having never touched the first one. Do you need to play the first to know what's going on or is this more of a rebooting of the series?
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Re: Prey Performance Analysis

Post by FlyingPenguin »

Nothing really to do with the first. They bought the name, but it stands alone.

From the reviews I'd say if you liked the System Shock series you'll probably like this. The video above really does cover it pretty well.
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Re: Prey Performance Analysis

Post by FlyingPenguin »

Ok, a couple of hours in. The game is part System Shock, the better parts of Deus Ex, and Half-Life 2 all rolled up in a burrito and liberally sprinkled with crack cocaine.

There IS a real story and it's pretty immersive, which I appreciate. You get thrown into a mystery right away and you DO want to find out WTF is going on.

I love the retro vibe. It's supposed to be around 2030, but in an alternate history where Kennedy wasn't assassinated and the US went gung-ho into space exploration and we put a huge space station in orbit early on, so everything has a sort of retro/modern feel (lots of wood veneer, modern flat screen displays connected to computers that look like 1970 mainframes. Cool vibe.

The atmosphere over the top creepy. You start jumping at every sound and shadow. Unlike most games, you MUST leave the music turned up because it sets the mood like in a movie. When the music starts making weird discordant sounds the hairs on the back of your neck will stand up because something bad is likely about to happen.

The RPG elements are very straight forward. You can install implants that give you abilities. You can also recycle crap you find and drop it into 3D printer type machines to make things you need like ammo for your weapons. There are upgrades you can install on weapons. There's Half-Life 2 style auto-sentries that you can place.

Gameplay is very smooth. I went ahead and installed the latest NVidia driver as recommended because it's optimized for the game.

Most important: The save game system is OLD SKOOL save game slots & quick saves WHENEVER YOU WANT! The next room looks like it might contain something nasty? Save the game before walking in. Not sure what augments to install? Save the game first and try them out and you can always go back and try a different one. A breath of fresh air in a game like this.

I used the FOV hack to up the FOV to 100 which looks great.

I also disabled the splash videos at the start of the game by renaming the files as recommended. Otherwise you have a LONG load time into the game (same as Doom and Wolfenstein). With the videos disabled it goes straight to the main menu on start skip[ping about 20+ seconds of boring and repetitive videos.
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Re: Prey Performance Analysis

Post by FlyingPenguin »

5 hour game last night and I had a hard time putting it down and going to bed at 2am. That's everything I could ask for from a game.

The maps are very logically laid out. It feels like a real place. You have a map available which not only updates as you enter new sections, but like Doom, you sometimes can get a map download from a terminal for a whole area. The map clearly marks important things like recyclers and 3D printers, as well as objectives.

There is usually more than one way into a locked area: you can find a combo for the keypad or security card for the card reader, you can try your hack skill, there might be a way to move some debris, you may find a hidden service tunnel that gets you around. It's worth exploring.

The old skool save game system is a blessing. Gives you the freedom of trying to take on things that may be too difficult. For instance there was an alien in a room that was way to powerful for me. The smart thing was to just sneak past it, but I wanted to see how hard it was to kill. So save game, and tried a dozen different ways to kill it. My shotgun barely put a dent in it, but eventually I threw a bunch of explosive canisters at it which only knocked down half it's heath, but then a shotgun blast ruptured a propane pipe in the wall behind it and incinerated it. That was very satisfying and surprising.

As a big fan of the System Shock series, it's VERY much in that vein. It also borrows a lot from Deus Ex but I eventually got bored and frustrated with all the Deus Ex games. I found the RPG mechanics very daunting in Deus Ex as well. In Prey the RPG elements are very straight forward, and the crafting system is elegant.

So far, the pacing and logic of finding your next objective (and there are side objectives you are free to explore or ignore) is done very well, with logically laid out maps that make sense, and wonderful artistic touches like the great steam-punk toilets, and crazy amounts of wood veneer in the executive offices.

No bugs I've encountered yet, except that sometimes the goo gun goop pokes through a wall. The goo gun is a great mechanic. It temporarily can immobilize an enemy by sealing it in goo, you can use it to build steps and bridges to reach inaccessible places, and you can use it to put out fires and seal leaks.

I don't bother wasting ammo on the shape shifters - I just goo them and then bash them to death with a wrench.

So far, this is looking like a Game of the Year contender. With the Steam refund policy I think it's worth getting if it's your type of game, unless you want to wait for a Steam sale.

If anyone wants to watch me play, shoot me a Steam PM and request a stream if you see me playing.
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Re: Prey Performance Analysis/Reviews

Post by Executioner »

I'm curious Bob - how many active games do you play? It seems like when a new one comes out, and you are somewhat interested, you grab it.
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Re: Prey Performance Analysis/Reviews

Post by Err »

I still haven't finished Horizon Zero Dawn and Nier:Automata. I've yet to touch Yakuza 0 and Nioh. 2017 has been the best year for games and I hope to get around to playing Prey.
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Re: Prey Performance Analysis/Reviews

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Exec: Active games? Prey (going on 8 hours and still obsessed with it), Killing Floor 2, L4D2, COD Infinite Warfare, COD Black Ops 3, Clustertruck, trying to get back into Shadow Warrior and Inside. Yeah I buy a lot of game sand either lose interest, or else I've bought into them in Alpha stage and I stop playing for a while and get back to it. Astroneer and Subnautica for instance are still early access. Played them a lot and then took a break to let them add some new features.
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Re: Prey Performance Analysis/Reviews

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