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Prey (2017) |OT| Trust no one. Not even your shelf

SJRB

Gold Member
Jeeez after the Arboretum when you
return to the Talos I lobby, that Nightmare was fucking crazy.

Ultra-easy to cheese though, but still. That was amazing.
 

Kevtones

Member
Got it from GS using their summer pass thing today. I'm coming off the following run of games:


Persona 5 - sadly got bored and I love Persona
Nier - good but not great
Horizon - never clicked and felt hammy
Dishonored - the feel threw me off and I never got into it



Now Prey: I'm really digging this game after two hours. The story and lore seems engaging (rare) and the style/exploration is great. The combat seems woeful but I'm engaged. Optimistic.
 
I decided to screw waiting for a frame pacing patch and just jump in.

Yeah, the frame pacing sucks, but dear lord this game is amazing. I'll love everything about it, especially the soundtrack.
 

Sande

Member
Is it a bug when the personnel tracker just turns off when you enter the area they are in? Happens to me with Hunter Hale and Josh Dalton, which is pretty annoying since they're at the 2 largest areas of the game.
 

Sande

Member
Finally finished this and oh man is this a divisive game. There's so much to love but so so much to hate here.

I love the story, the setting, the atmosphere, how fully realized the world is (Prey takes the idea of immersive sim to a whole new level compared to anything I've played) and the amount of varied side quests and endings. It's also really cool that you'll come across people and have a chance to save them (or shoot them in the face, up to you).

But... the technical aspects are a mess. On PS4 it's ugly as sin and doesn't even run very well. The areas are small and loading times are massive. I'm not exaggerating when I say that it's genuinely possible to spend more time in loading screens than actually playing the game towards the end when you're tying up loose ends instead of exploring areas for the first time. The audio mixing is off. Things are often way louder or quieter than they have any right to be and positional audio doesn't seem to work for some sounds. There's also a lot of odd shit going on every once in a while and often I'm not sure if the game is working as intended or bugging out.

The combat is ultimately quite disappointing. The enemies just aren't very fun, interesting or difficult to fight. It's mostly shapeless blobs that throw energy blobs at you. There's almost no enemy in the game that doesn't get immediately destroyed by psychoshock and a couple of buckshots. I tried to do some interesting stuff early on but apart form operators, mimics and cystoids that combo just seemed to work the best on everything. I played Horizon in the middle of my Prey playthrough and the difference in enemy and combat design is staggering in favor of Horizon.

I really wish Arkane will make a sequel because if they work on these weaknesses we might be talking about one of my favourite games ever.

Edit: Something that struck me now that I've looked more into the ending:
January might tell you that you can go with the shuttle or it'll lie to Mikhaila that you don't need a ride in an attempt to keep you on Talos I. What exactly determines this interaction?
 

munroe

Member
I just finished
Reboot
and still haven't got the Q Beam yet. I'm guessing I missed it?

There's quite a few lying around.

Ones that I can remember off the top of head:

Hardware Labs (where you get Dr Colstein? id, in space, there's a door you can repair to gain access to the upper level)

The freezer in Crew Quarters

One of the storage cages in the Cargo bay
 

Dabi

Member
Thought my save file and / or controller was bugged since I couldn't walk in a straight line.
Turned out I was suffering from radiation sickness the whole time lol.
 

SJRB

Gold Member
Good lord, Psychoshock is the best neuromod.

I love this game so much. Now that I've progressed further there are WAY fewer Mimicks. Combat is still the worst part of the game but at least fighting Phantoms and other Typhons is more tolerable.

But everything else? God tier. Level design, artstyle, story, sidequests, everything is top notch. Morgan and Alex's voice actors are excellent as well.
 
Still no word of a patch to fix the frame pacing, huh? I absolutely want to purchase this, but as long as they don't fix their shit I am just going to leave it there.
 

SJRB

Gold Member
Still no word of a patch to fix the frame pacing, huh? I absolutely want to purchase this, but as long as they don't fix their shit I am just going to leave it there.

Yeah I'm kinda surprised at the lack of support. The game is playable though. The weird FOV resize after you've entered a menu and bizarro LOD glitches bother me more than the framepacing.

This game could've used a bit more time for polish. Everything's there, it just missed a bit of finetuning.
 
I actually played throught the PS4 version on the 1.00 patch and the only bad thing was the input lag, so shooting and hacking mechanic was a pain to use, especially lever 2 hacking, sins the time to finish was short and on the opposite side level 3 to 4 was much easier in that you had enough time to finish the puzzle.
Prey is definitely not ugly, far from it, it's sharp and does barely have any rough jaggies and the design of the station is pleasent and it's colorful too. I like the style Arkane uses for their characters but the animation on them is less than great.
 

SJRB

Gold Member
The Cystoids react to movement. So they will chase the nerf arrow and most of the time they will all explode. With the pistol, you have to shoot them individually more often than not.

Guess that explains why the nerf gun is in this game in the first place, I thought it was a gimmick or something.


Can anyone give a rough % of how far I am? I just
went to Deep Storage and fabricated the arming key, on my way to blast myself out of Deep Storage and going for Alex' arming key.
.

I've played for 23 hours but still feel like I'm only scratching the surface, somehow.
 
Guess that explains why the nerf gun is in this game in the first place, I thought it was a gimmick or something.


Can anyone give a rough % of how far I am? I just
went to Deep Storage and fabricated the arming key, on my way to blast myself out of Deep Storage and going for Alex' arming key.
.

I've played for 23 hours but still feel like I'm only scratching the surface, somehow.

The nerf gun is great with cystoids and you can use it on computers/buttons to open doors from outside a room.

I'd say about half way through. The game gets super long especially if you investigate everything. For some the game is like 15 hours others around 40.
 

SJRB

Gold Member
The nerf gun is great with cystoids and you can use it on computers/buttons to open doors from outside a room.

I'd say about half way through. The game gets super long especially if you investigate everything. For some the game is like 15 hours others around 40.

I'm only halfway through?!

Jesus Christ..
 
I'm only halfway through?!

Jesus Christ..

Yeah this is going from the mission list, though I guess some missions can be shorter or longer. But just note that depending on how much you explored earlier will influence how long it will take. For me since I explored everything I could, these last missions where a bit short, as I knew where everything was and what not.
 
How many more missions do you have after you find
Alex's Key
? I was looking at the mission list on IGN's guide and it looked like it was the last main mission. How much more do I have to go?
 
The nerf gun is great with cystoids and you can use it on computers/buttons to open doors from outside a room.

I'd say about half way through. The game gets super long especially if you investigate everything. For some the game is like 15 hours others around 40.

Maybe I'm misremembering, but doesn't
Dahl
show up after making your arming key? Pretty sure he's almost done.
 
Maybe I'm misremembering, but doesn't
Dahl
show up after making your arming key? Pretty sure he's almost done.

I think so, they said they just got blown out of deep storage.
I was just going from the polygon mission list. I guess a more than half way. It's kinda hard to approximate as playtime vary so much. That and some of these missions are short. Around this time you can speed through it or it can take time.
 

Zukkoyaki

Member
This game steadily gets worse the further you progress.

I agree with this.

No spoilers, but I'd say at some point around the last third or so of the game, its worst aspects like combat, the zero gravity, load times, etc, get brought to the forefront compared to the earlier parts where the game's best aspects like atmosphere, exploration and tension are the focus. It's a bummer because what this game does well it does REALLY well.

The first few hours are god-tier and it remains great for awhile but by the end I was just ready for it to be done.
 

leng jai

Member
I agree with this.

No spoilers, but I'd say at some point around the last third or so of the game, its worst aspects like combat, the zero gravity, load times, etc, get brought to the forefront compared to the earlier parts where the game's best aspects like atmosphere, exploration and tension are the focus. It's a bummer because what this game does well it does REALLY well.

The first few hours are god-tier and it remains great for awhile but by the end I was just ready for it to be done.

Last week I got to the part where you have to
scan the coral
and there was a zero G section with tons of cystoids. Pretty much just dropped the game and haven't touched it since :/
 

SJRB

Gold Member
Game runs WAY better on PS4 Pro with the 1.05 patch. Stable framerate, no more FOV resizing. Audio also seems tweaked.

Loading times are still pretty brutal though, unfortunately.
 

Zukkoyaki

Member
Last week I got to the part where you have to
scan the coral
and there was a zero G section with tons of cystoids. Pretty much just dropped the game and haven't touched it since :/
I played that last night on my way to finishing it and I had the exact same thought
 

Ardenyal

Member
Feels like input lag is back with the release of 1.05. I would really appreciate an option to toggle vsync off.

It's not as bad as at launch but it's there.
 

owlbeak

Member
PS4 Pro framepacing issues seem totally fixed now after the patch. Finally. Been playing all afternoon and it feels great once again.
 
And it's official; I'm done with Bethesda games completely. Arkane games were the exception, not anymore.
Glad to see the console gamers in here are finally having a good time with Prey. Me? I'm just sitting here wishing I could play this game in my living room, using the DS4 control scheme I spent an hour this week putting together.

but I can't. because patch 1.05 removed native controller support on PC. WTF, Arkane? Can't I just enjoy one of your games without -constant- -fucking- -issues-?

I guess the answer to that is a resolute NOPE, and so, that's now my answer to the question of whether or not I'll buy an Arkane game again.
This gen is becoming a real bummer for me.
 

munroe

Member
Well I can finally get to the rest of my games, finally got all of the achievements; the last one I got was the no needles achievement, had to have it on normal though. Played the game about 4 times through, enjoyed each one.

Hope there's a sequel
 

Stranya

Member
And it's official; I'm done with Bethesda games completely. Arkane games were the exception, not anymore.
Glad to see the console gamers in here are finally having a good time with Prey. Me? I'm just sitting here wishing I could play this game in my living room, using the DS4 control scheme I spent an hour this week putting together.

but I can't. because patch 1.05 removed native controller support on PC. WTF, Arkane? Can't I just enjoy one of your games without -constant- -fucking- -issues-?

I guess the answer to that is a resolute NOPE, and so, that's now my answer to the question of whether or not I'll buy an Arkane game again.
This gen is becoming a real bummer for me.
How in earth did they miss that?
 
Game runs WAY better on PS4 Pro with the 1.05 patch. Stable framerate, no more FOV resizing. Audio also seems tweaked.

Loading times are still pretty brutal though, unfortunately.

Yeah it becomes really annoying especially after a long gameplay session. But, it may be annoying yet if I had to choose between bad frame pasing/frame rate or loading times I pick loading times. Unfortunately all that console gamers have to deal with most of the time.
 

psychotron

Member
Feels like input lag is back with the release of 1.05. I would really appreciate an option to toggle vsync off.

It's not as bad as at launch but it's there.

It's there for sure but it's not bad enough for me to shelve it. The performance is great and it looks fantastic on Pro. I love this damn game.
 

psychotron

Member
Yep, not even as bad as Dishonored 2 on PS4. Definitely playable for me, and I'm sensitive to it.

I'm sensitive to it as well. I played through it on XB1 already so I know how it should feel, and this is manageable. I set sensitivity to 30% and used the mobility neuromods.
 

SJRB

Gold Member
Good lord this game never ends.

I'm at the part
with all the military operators
and it's by far the worst sequence of the entire game. Fighting them is no fun whatsoever.

I feel like the game reached a point where it should've ended but it somehow slapped on another chapter, and now I'm just trying to plough through it just to get it to end.

This is like the Cuba section of Bad Boys II.
 

JJShadow

Member
Just bought this one after seeing that patch 1.05 is finally out and I'm really excited to play it, I enjoyed the hell out of Dishonored 2 and from what I've seen in videos Prey is gonna be right up my alley

Any initial tips or things to take into account during the initial hours?
 

BeeDog

Member
Just bought this one after seeing that patch 1.05 is finally out and I'm really excited to play it, I enjoyed the hell out of Dishonored 2 and from what I've seen in videos Prey is gonna be right up my alley

Any initial tips or things to take into account during the initial hours?

Explore as much as possible and pick up pretty much any shit you can find and dismantle it. And if you really care about trophies, make sure to stick to one path only (typhon powers or other enhancements).
 

J3nga

Member
Just bought this one after seeing that patch 1.05 is finally out and I'm really excited to play it, I enjoyed the hell out of Dishonored 2 and from what I've seen in videos Prey is gonna be right up my alley

Any initial tips or things to take into account during the initial hours?

I've liked D2 a lot, thought this was gonna be dishonored in the space, boy was I wrong. Maybe because I was very hyped. Annoying enemies, boring combat, silent protagonist(not that he don't speak at all), no memorable/interesting characters, wasting time on collecting garbage and then recycling it .Sadly it's more stuff for me to dislike than like about the game. Also, I think Dishonored 2 visually looks a lot better.
 

JJShadow

Member
Explore as much as possible and pick up pretty much any shit you can find and dismantle it. And if you really care about trophies, make sure to stick to one path only (typhon powers or other enhancements).

Thanks for this! I'm not really into trophies but it's good to know. Is there any important reason to stick to one path besides the trophies? I was planning on using skills from both of them

I've liked D2 a lot, thought this was gonna be dishonored in the space, boy was I wrong. Maybe because I was very hyped. Annoying enemies, boring combat, silent protagonist(not that he don't speak at all), no memorable/interesting characters, wasting time on collecting garbage and then recycling it .Sadly it's more stuff for me to dislike than like about the game. Also, I think Dishonored 2 visually looks a lot better.

Thanks for sharing your opinion! I think I'll found out about this soon enough lol I know about the strong and weak points of each game and what to expect from Prey, we'll see if it's enough to fully convince me
 

J3nga

Member
Thanks for this! I'm not really into trophies but it's good to know. Is there any important reason to stick to one path besides the trophies? I was planning on using skills from both of them



Thanks for sharing your opinion! I think I'll found out about this soon enough lol I know about the strong and weak points of each game and what to expect from Prey, we'll see if it's enough to fully convince me

It has its moments, like a story premise and finale(you'll start seeing why things were the way they were), atmosphere is also there. It's not like it's a complete garbage that everyone should avoid, but for me it was more of disappointment, if things I mentioned in my previous post don't bother you - you'll probably get yourself a good game. Tried to go back to it earlier this week, but didn't want to continue, there's simply nothing for me in that game that wants me to go back.
 
I finally got around to playing this after buying it in June. I stopped outside of
the Power Plant
and I'm about 20 hours in. I'm loving it so far. Could easily contend for GOTY for me at this pace.

I've been sticking to 1.04 on the base PS4. I haven't had any issues with frame pacing or anything and I really don't want to see a slight increase in input lag some have mentioned with 1.05.
 

Azzanadra

Member
Phew, I just finished this game last week after a bit of a hiatus. I'l admit I kind of rushed the last quest, combat really became chore when they added so many fucking enemies... thank you Psychoshock and Machine Mind (?).

Overall I enjoyed it. Originally I would have thought this game Arkane's best, but I think it does go on for too long (especially with all its sidequests) and overstay its welcome a bit. Its a shame it didn't sell so well. We really need a sequel though after *that* ending.
 
How in earth did they miss that?

It's insane. Downright insane.

No, seriously, how do you remove all controller support including relevant UI options, totally accidentally, in an update? How the fuck does that happen?

I'm waiting for them to do something about it - fix it, fucking acknowledge it, whatever. They're aware of it. JessBethesda on the Steam forum made two posts attempting to help people with their 'controller issues', the same day the patch went up, until it was apparent that it was a problem with the game and not the users. After that? Radio silence.

I'd like to assume they're working on a fix. I'd like to assume the fix will come soon.

but I bought Dishonored 2 and Prey day one on PC, and I feel like a fucking idiot, because my experiences with Dishonored 2 won't allow me to assume those things about Prey. I can't assume they're working on a fix, because they haven't taken the three minutes it would take to communicate that to their players on Steam. I can't assume a fix will come soon because... well I don't need to explain that to you guys. You already know.
 

Sande

Member
Good lord this game never ends.

I'm at the part
with all the military operators
and it's by far the worst sequence of the entire game. Fighting them is no fun whatsoever.

I feel like the game reached a point where it should've ended but it somehow slapped on another chapter, and now I'm just trying to plough through it just to get it to end.

This is like the Cuba section of Bad Boys II.
I loathed it too but the little twist was actually kinda genius.
Blocking the fabricators.
That almost made it tolerable.

By far the biggest problem with the last couple of hours is that you've already explored the whole station and for some reason they make you run around before letting you finish. There's just nothing to do at that point other than to run to the next waypoint spending most of the time in a loading screen. Even the
tendrils
encourage you to just keep running.
 

FingerBang

Member
I finished the game today. Did some exploration and a lot of subquests (in the end
all the operators agreed it was worth giving me a chance
). I loved it.

I agree with those who say
the Dahl
part was kinda meh, but it wasn't too long anyway.

I loved it, I loved exploring the station and finding out what happened to the characters.
I loved how helpless I felt at first, every time a phantom appeared, and how I was able to fight 2 or 3 of them at the same time without a scratch near the end.

This is the best Bioshock since Bioshock. Too bad people aren't talking about it as much as they should.
 

psychotron

Member
Loved this game on XB1, and now with the patch I'm able to play it again on my PS4 Pro. The 1080 and screen space reflections really do add a lot to the presentation. I was nervous I'd get burned out on it, but I'm loving my second play as much as the first, even discovering things I never picked up on the first time. GOTY for me.
 
After patch 1.05, I finally bought it on Saturday night and am really fucking hooked.

To be clear, I progress through games at a very leisurely pace. My favorite aspect is usually exploration and seeing every nook and cranny and this game's world seems to be basically designed for people like me. It's giving me a slight case of OCD meltdown sometimes with just how much detail there is, but I'm thoroughly enjoying getting lost in its world.

I especially enjoy the interestingly quiet atmosphere. The fact they listened and toned down that idiotic nonstop crescendo of noise they used for encounters in the demo makes a HUGE difference. I've been playing with headphones and love hearing the ticking of the those tape machines everywhere, buzzing of vents and so on.

Now for some questions, which I will spoiler tag, please only give me a simple yes or no if answering:

1.
In Volunteer Testing, there's that chamber used for neuromod extraction.
My first thought was to drag a corpse over and see if I can place him/her in the chair to get some mods...to no avail. Is there any use for this contraption?

2.
Is there something like a storage bin (Resi style) or something along the lines or do I carry all my shit in my inventory at all times? The weapons and ammo are piling up.

3.
In the main Fabrication room, there are some floor grates showing a crawlspace type area below...can I get there from the Neuromod Division area and I just haven't found how, or do I need to come back to that later?

Some other random thoughts:

-All the neuromod "augmentations" seem so fucking cool, I never know what to pick and it's driving me nuts every time.
-The fact I progressed through the first few hours of the game almost completely differently than in the demo struck me at some point and I found it really impressive, kudos Arkane.
-I'm really into the gadget-y weapons so far. The stun gun is great. Dishing out one-two punches with incapacitating weapons + shotgun is a lot of fun thus far.
 
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