The demo for PREY was released last week, and while I haven’t had the chance to play it, Gamespot did do a preview of the full build of the game, which is scheduled to hit store shelves in July.
For those who need a history lesson (and I do mean a lesson), PREY started out back in 1995 as a project undertaken by then buzz-word developers 3D Realms (who scored a massive hit with DUKE NUKEM 3D). Development team shuffles and rights issues ensued, and people were left wondering just what 3D Realms were up to (not just with PREY, but with DUKE 3D’s sequel, which must have the longest development period in video game history). PREY surfaced numerous times throughout the past few years, but nothing concrete came about until last April, when the game was officially announced. One year later, the July 10th release date was confirmed, and here we are.
The story for PREY centres on Tommy, a garage mechanic living on a Native American reservation in Oklahoma. At the start, Tommy is in a bar owned by his girlfriend, Jen. After an unfortunate bar fight, the bar is lifted up by a gravitational force, as various items are sucked from their stationary positions into a green light above. Tommy, Jen and a tribe elder are transported into shuttlecraft to be transported back to The Sphere, an organic, Texas-sized alien ship populated by hideous cyborgs who maintain it by capturing and assimilating various alien races. The Sphere is fused with cybernetic enhancements, and has the power to manipulate gravity inside of itself. Various walkways allow the occupants to walk on walls and ceilings. Switches that change the direction of gravity are present, causing the floor to become the ceiling. The Sphere also has the ablility to produce portals to other sections at will. See where this is going?
One look at the screenshots and gamers will instantly see that PREY’s engine is a heavily modified DOOM 3 engine capable of rendering huge cavernous spaces as well as more traditional passages. As you probably guessed, portals produced by The Sphere can be used by the player (and enemies) to transport themselves throughout the ship. The same goes for the gravity, which factors heavily into the multiplayer aspect of the game. Multiplayer support for PREY will include up to eight players for both the PC and XBOX 360. Weapon-wise, expect a lot of organic-based weapons liberated from the cyborgs you kill, including an arm that doubles as an autocannon, and spiders that function as mines.
Sounds like a badass game that just might be worth the wait, wouldn’t you say? Head on over to read more of the previews, images, videos and the like for the game. Now where’s DUKE NUKEM FOREVER, guys?