Prey Demo
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Archangelus
- Posts: 4286
- Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2002 9:01 pm
- Contact:
Turok meets Halo is a TERRIBLE description. Anyone with season would avoid the game if either reference were mentioned.
Refer to it as "An enhanced Doom3 that doesn't tell you which direction is down until you land on the ceiling."
Evaluation Den Mode! Yaar!
Running on the smooth and well-made Doom 3 engine, Prey looks exceptionally good even on lower-level hardware. It also doesn't have the one fault of Doom 3's graphics, being plastic-coated characters. While few people would actually try it, the game even looks pretty good at the absolute lowest settings (well, at least try to keep it above 800X600). Take note that even a top of the line rig will probably want to put everything down to the lowest settings if he were to attempt multiplayer play.
The weapons can be classified in each of the general terms, like machinegun, shotgun, grenade... And after even one shot, you'll have the gun's functions down. Kinda. A few are particularly unique.
The weapons in the singleplayer portion of the demo are limited to:
Tommy's Monkey Wrench = enjoyable tool considering the actual swing will strike all along the arc of the attack, instead of being a copout center-screen hitscan like Call of Duty 2.
Organic Machinegun = The first weapon received is a basic rapid-fire machinegun that is sticky and makes "goosh" noises. The secondary mode of the weapon is that of a scoped rifle that does far more damage at the cost of extra weapon ammo.
Crawly Grenades = Little green spiders you find scurrying about. Pick one up and throw him, and I'm guessing his natural defenses have him elxplode. A basic grenade-type weapon.
Leech = A unique weapon with multiple purposes. The Leech 'leeches' energy from parts of the ship for ammunition, and relative to the type of energy drawn, the weapon launches different elements, such as wide-spread fireballs or a close-range ice gun that freezes enemies. To switch between the types, though, you need to find an untapped energy source of the other type. Kinda powerful, low ammo capacity.
And then multiplayer:
Heavy Machinegun = A very fast Organic Machinegun with the secondary being an explosive grenade. Simple. Much stronger. Runs out of ammo quick.
Acid Shotgun = A shotgun of sorts that shoots out a spray of acid, closer the better. Secondary is a grenade not unlike the Heavy Machinegun, except acidic.
Some Other Gun = Strangely rare. Fires rockets. I think the secondary fires seeker rockets.
Finally:
Spirit Bow = As Tommy progresses, he learns that his indian mysticism grants him a second life, the ability to have a tangible out-of-body experience, and a sweet bow and arrow. In this form, Tommy's living body is still in danger, and the spirit bow makes use of the very energy that allows him to be in spirit form. Luckily, Tommy can become a spirit at even zero energy, he just can't shoot an arrow or he'll return. The arrow is basic, just an arrow, though lethal enough to kill anything in the demo with one hit.
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Next, the "gimmick", the "drawing point", the "angle". Multiple planes of movement. Unlike most standard shooters stuck on a 2D platform with a bit of up and down, Prey introduces areas of gravity that are inverse or adjacent to the initial gravitational pull in the same level.
The shifts in gravity are executed with different methods, such as spots where gravity just changes as you pass between them, or ramps and walkways where your feet are keeping you on the wall (don't jump off!).
In singleplayer, the use of these things are for unique level design and to create puzzles, like figuring out how to cross an upside-down chasm by becoming a spirit, finding and then pushing some switch that sends living Tommy (who is still standing upside down on the end of this gap) across safely. Or shooting switches that shift the gravity in the room in any direction, allowing one to maneuver around blockages (or cause Tommy to vomit if you shift too many times).
In multiplayer though, the areas of gravity and sticky walkways literally add a new dimension to player combat, since you'll have to start looking directly above you. For a sneaky guy like me, being the upside down in a corner on the ceiling would be really inconspicuous and suprising for the first few weeks until the players relearn the third dimension.
The one issue is that the shifts between gravitational pulls are disorienting, but then again, you'd expect having your mass pulled to the side disorienting. At least the game doesn't have you breaking your neck.
Oh, and you can also use the spirit form in multiplayer. Which is actually pretty cool and could work for really well-planned strategies. Still gotta worry about your body getting destroyed (fortunately getting hit at all kicks you back to your body immediately).
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Might get the game. Multiplayer is the high point, but I'm not all that interested in it.
Refer to it as "An enhanced Doom3 that doesn't tell you which direction is down until you land on the ceiling."
Evaluation Den Mode! Yaar!Running on the smooth and well-made Doom 3 engine, Prey looks exceptionally good even on lower-level hardware. It also doesn't have the one fault of Doom 3's graphics, being plastic-coated characters. While few people would actually try it, the game even looks pretty good at the absolute lowest settings (well, at least try to keep it above 800X600). Take note that even a top of the line rig will probably want to put everything down to the lowest settings if he were to attempt multiplayer play.
The weapons can be classified in each of the general terms, like machinegun, shotgun, grenade... And after even one shot, you'll have the gun's functions down. Kinda. A few are particularly unique.
The weapons in the singleplayer portion of the demo are limited to:
Tommy's Monkey Wrench = enjoyable tool considering the actual swing will strike all along the arc of the attack, instead of being a copout center-screen hitscan like Call of Duty 2.
Organic Machinegun = The first weapon received is a basic rapid-fire machinegun that is sticky and makes "goosh" noises. The secondary mode of the weapon is that of a scoped rifle that does far more damage at the cost of extra weapon ammo.
Crawly Grenades = Little green spiders you find scurrying about. Pick one up and throw him, and I'm guessing his natural defenses have him elxplode. A basic grenade-type weapon.
Leech = A unique weapon with multiple purposes. The Leech 'leeches' energy from parts of the ship for ammunition, and relative to the type of energy drawn, the weapon launches different elements, such as wide-spread fireballs or a close-range ice gun that freezes enemies. To switch between the types, though, you need to find an untapped energy source of the other type. Kinda powerful, low ammo capacity.
And then multiplayer:
Heavy Machinegun = A very fast Organic Machinegun with the secondary being an explosive grenade. Simple. Much stronger. Runs out of ammo quick.
Acid Shotgun = A shotgun of sorts that shoots out a spray of acid, closer the better. Secondary is a grenade not unlike the Heavy Machinegun, except acidic.
Some Other Gun = Strangely rare. Fires rockets. I think the secondary fires seeker rockets.
Finally:
Spirit Bow = As Tommy progresses, he learns that his indian mysticism grants him a second life, the ability to have a tangible out-of-body experience, and a sweet bow and arrow. In this form, Tommy's living body is still in danger, and the spirit bow makes use of the very energy that allows him to be in spirit form. Luckily, Tommy can become a spirit at even zero energy, he just can't shoot an arrow or he'll return. The arrow is basic, just an arrow, though lethal enough to kill anything in the demo with one hit.
-
Next, the "gimmick", the "drawing point", the "angle". Multiple planes of movement. Unlike most standard shooters stuck on a 2D platform with a bit of up and down, Prey introduces areas of gravity that are inverse or adjacent to the initial gravitational pull in the same level.
The shifts in gravity are executed with different methods, such as spots where gravity just changes as you pass between them, or ramps and walkways where your feet are keeping you on the wall (don't jump off!).
In singleplayer, the use of these things are for unique level design and to create puzzles, like figuring out how to cross an upside-down chasm by becoming a spirit, finding and then pushing some switch that sends living Tommy (who is still standing upside down on the end of this gap) across safely. Or shooting switches that shift the gravity in the room in any direction, allowing one to maneuver around blockages (or cause Tommy to vomit if you shift too many times).
In multiplayer though, the areas of gravity and sticky walkways literally add a new dimension to player combat, since you'll have to start looking directly above you. For a sneaky guy like me, being the upside down in a corner on the ceiling would be really inconspicuous and suprising for the first few weeks until the players relearn the third dimension.
The one issue is that the shifts between gravitational pulls are disorienting, but then again, you'd expect having your mass pulled to the side disorienting. At least the game doesn't have you breaking your neck.
Oh, and you can also use the spirit form in multiplayer. Which is actually pretty cool and could work for really well-planned strategies. Still gotta worry about your body getting destroyed (fortunately getting hit at all kicks you back to your body immediately).
---
Might get the game. Multiplayer is the high point, but I'm not all that interested in it.
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Archangelus
- Posts: 4286
- Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2002 9:01 pm
- Contact:
A couple other notes:
You get ammo for the spirit bow by gathering the souls of your vanquished enemies.
The constant shifting of orientation seemed to get me nauseous pretty quickly. Didn't seem as bad in MP, but SP had me also spewing.
There are portals throughout the game that will take you to completely different parts of the level. If they look like mirrors, you don't want that one. You want one that you don't see yourself in (most of the time).
You get ammo for the spirit bow by gathering the souls of your vanquished enemies.
The constant shifting of orientation seemed to get me nauseous pretty quickly. Didn't seem as bad in MP, but SP had me also spewing.
There are portals throughout the game that will take you to completely different parts of the level. If they look like mirrors, you don't want that one. You want one that you don't see yourself in (most of the time).
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Undead_Mercenary
- Posts: 2914
- Joined: Wed Aug 21, 2002 10:01 am
- Location: Barrie, Ontario
Meh, I wasn't really impressed by this game. I feel like I'm just playing Quake IV again. Portals are cool, although I'm not very fond of the anti-grav stuff. I don't like having to shoot stuff upside down.
MP was same old same old. DM, TDM, even CTF will just be the same as every other game. I can see the anti-grav stuff getting old real fast.
I think the most enjoyable part from the demo was using my wrench to pummel those 2 drunks to the music of Apryl Wine and Judas Priest
MP was same old same old. DM, TDM, even CTF will just be the same as every other game. I can see the anti-grav stuff getting old real fast.
I think the most enjoyable part from the demo was using my wrench to pummel those 2 drunks to the music of Apryl Wine and Judas Priest
Açieeed! style by