Please help me try to understand Prey.

[Taker34]

So I've purchased Prey a couple of weeks ago while it was on sale. Obviously there's nothing but praise for this game on Era and I don't doubt you all. The thing is I haven't really paid any attention to the game when it was released. I was basically starting the game, only knowing it was an "immersive sim" game which was mentioned in the same breath as Deus Ex... and I like Deus Ex.

As of now I managed to play a bit of the beginning and received that glue gun thingy. It was pretty good so far but I'm getting the impression this is more of a horror game. That's pretty much the genre I always avoid because I'm really not enjoying jump scares and horror at all. So will this always be a thing? I don't even seem to understand why this wasn't being compared more to horror games instead of immersive sims. Those morphing little creatures annoy me more than anything else right now. I don't want to be scared of every piece of junk. Maybe I simply haven't played enough and things become different later on?

Edit: Completely botched the title, sorry...

 

[bahorel]

I'm playing through it right now and I don't find it scary at all. I'm sensitive to jump scares and it seems to me like all the enemies are telegraphed. I'm about 9 hours in. You can get a skill that lets you know where all the enemies are.

 

[Kolx]

I HATE jump scares, and I was fine. The game is more of a psychological horror and only in the first 2-3 hours. After that you just get used to the game.

 

[Dr. Caroll]

It's the spiritual successor to System Shock 2. The character Danielle Sho is a partial anagram of Shodan. You know, the nightmarish and insane AI that tries to use you to fight the equally nightmarish hive mind organisms.


Prey is steeped significantly in horror. Thief, System Shock, and Deus Ex were all different branches of the immersive sim design philisophy with different priorities and focus. Dishonored is the successor to Thief, kinda-sorta. Prey is basically a design hybrid of System Shock 2 and Deus Ex. But it leans towards System Shock for the most part.

(Worth noting that Thief also had some pretty strong horror themes, too.)

 

[Deleted member 11370]

Once you get a certain item, 95% of the jump scares go away.

Spoiler

You can spot hiding Mimics with an upgrade to your scope.

 

[kyle mechlachlan]

There's some SciFi horror elements but it's not the primary focus. It's used to mostly establish power dynamics. You're weak and they are strong. Or they can be anywhere and you have to be cautious. For the mimics, you can kill then easily, but they can hide.

The big boys are very strong but easy to track so you can put together strategies to take them out. The game has tons on options.

 

[aerie]

Edit: Completely botched the title, sorry...

Click to shrink...

I gotcha :).

 

[Zealuu]

The Mimics stop being scary soon enough, and the other types of enemy you can both see and hear coming.

The Bonehoard and zombie stuff in Thief is.. so much worse. Not to mention the standout Cradle level in Deadly Shadows.

 

[Bardoon]

You will get used to Mimics, and after some hours you will stop worrying about them entirely (which to me was a disappointing part of the game, because Mimics are by far the most interesting enemy type imo, and add a lot to the atmosphere).

But until then, there are some signs they are nearby, like a ticking noise, the music picking up in general, objects where they shouldn't be or different to where they were earlier. You can also notice them shaking or moving around themselves (which you probably have done by now).

You can also hack turrets in the area to help alert you to enemies, if you are worried about them sneaking around.

 

[astro]

I want to love this game...

Console has too m any performance issues and load times can be obnoxious.

PC is a bad port in terms of customization of controls which really hampers the usability.

It's like it's trying to get me to hate playing it whichever platform I try.

 

[Taker34]

Thanks for the replies. From what I understand now is it's not getting worse.

The atmosphere in the beginning was pretty dark to be fair, with all the scientists being killed and seeing already bigger creatures roaming around. I'm still grateful for any suggestions which make the game more enjoyable.

Once you get a certain item, 95% of the jump scares go away.

Spoiler

You can spot hiding Mimics with an upgrade to your scope.

Click to shrink...

Very nice! This'll definitely help.

I gotcha :).

Click to shrink...

Thanks for saving me from eternal shame.

 

[Rei no Otaku]

I'll give you a top for your wrench which will help with mimics. Make sure to charge your swings. A charged swing takes the same amount of stamina as a non-charged one. So charge your swings and aim your shots. A lot of people just swing wildly missing and draining all their stamina.

Also look at each enemy encounter as a puzzle. Every enemy in the game is weak to one of your tools. Think of each weapon as a key to a certain "enemy puzzle."

 

[noyram23]

Playing it right now and it's an absolute masterpiece, it's Arkane's best game but I didn't play the Dishonored 2 DLC yet. I love immersive sim games, feeds the inner hoarder and metroidvania fan in me. I think games should strive for more depth, options, level design in their games than just the usual open world bloat

 

[Pargon]

PC is a bad port in terms of customization of controls which really hampers the usability.
It's like it's trying to get me to hate playing it whichever platform I try.

Click to shrink...

Have you tried the Prey Interface Customizer tool? https://community.pcgamingwiki.com/files/file/928-prey-interface-customizer/
The only issue I had with the controls was that they slow down your aim when sprinting or in zero-G, and this fixes it.

 

[MrCibb]

Yeah don't worry, I wouldn't say it's a horror at all. As has been said, it's more psychological and trippy than trying to be straight up horror.

The game's perfect is you enjoy thinking creatively. I couldn't get into a room I wanted to get into. So what I did was I smashed one of the small windows, ran to an earlier room to get a cup, put the cup onto the window sill, morph'd into the cup, and hopped through the smashed window and popped back out. And I was in! I could have also increased hacking to get in, or used the goo gun to create a ladder onto the roof and drop in from the ceiling (I didn't have any ammo at the time though), but I love how I could play it my way.

It's a brilliant game and I hope you enjoy it!

 

[Truant]

You'll become a walking tank if you spec for it by the end of the game.

Spoiler

And then you won't be for like 2 hours.

 

[Edgar]

I prefer dishonored games a lot more, just due to aesthetics/art direction. Played prey for 5+h and it never properly clicked. Didn't like the way was story delivered and weak ass horror elements never got to me. I always unconsciously compare to alien isolation, even though both are in different genres, it's just Sci fi space station felt better realized in alien. And idk , i can appreciate level design and Gameplay loop, but the writing /characters never did anything for me. So I just kinda stopped playing after a while

 

[SofNascimento]

The beginning of Prey does give that feeling, but it's get smaller as you progress. Though some of it may always remain.

There is one jump scare in particualr however that may make you jump from your chair.

 

[AuthenticM]

I'm currently playing it. I was told to put the game on the highest difficulty, and that's what I did. I had to start over after a couple of hours though to deactivate the survival mode, as it was too annoying.

I like the game a lot. It's basically Bioshock, but in space. So the comparisons to System Shock 2 are apt. That said, I have just now realized that enemies respawn when you leave a level and then come back to it. That's super fucking annoying. I had to go in space twice to get stuff, and twice I came back to the same level I was in, and both times, there were fucking ghosts prowling around. I'm not so sure how this made its way in the game's design, but it's honestly terrible. Prey isn't the kind of game in which enemies should respawn.

 

[CannonFodder52]

I like the game a lot. It's basically Bioshock, but in space. So the comparisons to System Shock 2 are apt. That said, I have just now realized that enemies respawn when you leave a level and then come back to it. That's super fucking annoying. I had to go in space twice to get stuff, and twice I came back to the same level I was in, and both times, there were fucking ghosts prowling around. I'm not so sure how this made its way in the game's design, but it's honestly terrible. Prey isn't the kind of game in which enemies should respawn.

Click to shrink...

I don't believe they infinitely respawn, but just at some story intervals or after accomplishing stuff. I've definitely had areas remain cleared for quite a while.

 

[Pargon]

I like the game a lot. It's basically Bioshock, but in space. So the comparisons to System Shock 2 are apt. That said, I have just now realized that enemies respawn when you leave a level and then come back to it. That's super fucking annoying. I had to go in space twice to get stuff, and twice I came back to the same level I was in, and both times, there were fucking ghosts prowling around. I'm not so sure how this made its way in the game's design, but it's honestly terrible. Prey isn't the kind of game in which enemies should respawn.

Click to shrink...

It's been a while since I played the main game, but I don't think that's accurate. I think they only spawn more enemies in some locations after certain events take place.

 

[AuthenticM]

I don't believe they infinitely respawn, but just at some story intervals or after accomplishing stuff. I've definitely had areas remain cleared for quite a while.

Click to shrink...

It's been a while since I played the main game, but I don't think that's accurate. I think they only spawn more enemies in some locations after certain events take place.

Click to shrink...

I went to space twice, back-to-back. Basically, I went to space the first time right after unlocking my first SAS. I obtained some items from the room that exploded and had a breach in it. Then when I came back, some ghosts and mimics had spawned; I dispatched them. Then, as I walked next to a window seconds after that, I saw that there was a keycard in the breached room I had just been in. So I immediately went back outside to get it. When I got to the keycard, I noticed it was the card to the doctor's room, which I already had as there was a second one somewhere else in the level. I still grabbed it, and when I got back to the same SAS, there was a new purple ghost there.

 

[Budi]

I'm playing through it right now and I don't find it scary at all. I'm sensitive to jump scares and it seems to me like all the enemies are telegraphed. I'm about 9 hours in. You can get a skill that lets you know where all the enemies are.

Click to shrink...

Oh this is pleasant to hear for me, jump scares has been the biggest reason I haven't played it yet. That skill sounds like something I'd pick.

 

[DJ Lushious]

Also look at each enemy encounter as a puzzle. Every enemy in the game is weak to one of your tools. Think of each weapon as a key to a certain "enemy puzzle."

Click to shrink...

I got pulled away from my second play through of this about 6 months ago and finally have the itch to finish off that run. Well, I loaded my save and found myself in Deep Storage with

Spoiler: Level Details

a Thermal Phantom, a Telepath (maybe a Technopath?), and another Phantom or two, and some mimics running around.And then there's another Telepath I can see through glass in the room next to it, where I think I jettison out fro some reason or another (can't quite remember).

My biggest challenge right now is not only getting back into the groove, but figuring out how I am going to tackle the situation above.

At the end of the day, though, I simply love this game; I hope OP stuck with it.