Prey (2006)

 PC
Prey (2006) Image
Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 51 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 427 Ratings

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  • Summary: Prey tells the story of Tommy, a Cherokee garage mechanic stuck on a reservation going nowhere. His life changes when an otherworldly crisis forces him to awaken spiritual powers from his long-forgotten birthright. Abducted along with his people to a menacing mothership orbiting Earth, hePrey tells the story of Tommy, a Cherokee garage mechanic stuck on a reservation going nowhere. His life changes when an otherworldly crisis forces him to awaken spiritual powers from his long-forgotten birthright. Abducted along with his people to a menacing mothership orbiting Earth, he sets out to save himself and his girlfriend and eventually his planet. Prey is serious, dark story, based on authentic Cherokee mythology. Themes of sacrifice, love and responsibility are explored and the story dives into emotional territory not yet explored by similar games.… Expand
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 43 out of 51
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 51
  3. Negative: 0 out of 51
  1. Detroit Free Press
    100
    Prey is touted as having an adaptive difficulty system -- the better you are, the better it gets -- and it really did seem to get harder as the game went on. As a result, there are just two difficulty settings, Normal and Cherokee, and I'd advise that even vets might want to give Normal a try on the first run out, letting the game's artificial intelligence pick up the pace to a comfortable level.
  2. IGN
    90
    With some truly imaginative level design, a compelling story with dramatic highlights, good voice acting and dialog, and more interesting weapons, Prey earns a spot on this shooter fan's hard drive.
  3. Computer Games Online RO
    89
    And even though the single-player is extremely linear and might be a bit short for certain tastes – you can complete it in less than 6 hours – Prey manages to avoid being a game released just for financial reasons. And considering its finale – the one after the Credits mind you – I sincerely hope that Human Head will continue the series with even more wackier ideas.
  4. AtomicGamer
    84
    Prey brings some unique storytelling and great, interesting features, but it just lacks the polish required to make this game a top-quality shooter.
  5. The Sydney Morning Herald
    80
    Despite a flimsy storyline that's riddled with cavernous gaps in logic, Prey's rollercoaster ride of gun-toting action delivers the punch of a blockbuster movie.
  6. Edge Magazine
    80
    While most shooters handle the genre's design tradition like fragile cargo, careful to ensure that its arrangement of pieces doesn't fall into disarray, Prey cranks it like a Rubik's cube, cocking its world delightfully askew. [Sept 2006, p.76]
    All this publication's reviews
  7. Game Revolution
    58
    It presently seems content merely treading ground already covered in "Half-Life 2," "Doom 3" and "Quake 4." Despite its lofty intentions, this brave’s promise of innovation is as empty as the tears of a fake Indian chief.

See all 51 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 76 out of 109
  2. Mixed: 19 out of 109
  3. Negative: 14 out of 109
  1. PrimalHunter70
    Mar 28, 2013
    10
    In a world full of Call of Duty clones, it's rare to find an FPS game that brings something new and unique to the genre. Prey, from 2006,In a world full of Call of Duty clones, it's rare to find an FPS game that brings something new and unique to the genre. Prey, from 2006, brings this in spades. The game offers a variety of new gameplay concepts and elements that make a unique and varied shooter; the classic Doom style run and gun gameplay mixed with several challenging puzzles and twists to complete a level. If you're looking for a new and innovative shooter (even though it's an old game) I highly recommend Prey; for the $5 it cost me, it was well worth my money.… Expand
  2. JackH.
    Aug 19, 2007
    10
    Incredible game. The bizarre pan-dimensional physics alone make it a blast to play, and the story is great too!
  4. Nataraja
    Jul 3, 2013
    9
    Considering that this game game out a year prior to Bioshock and a couple of years post Half Life 2 it is amazing that this game does notConsidering that this game game out a year prior to Bioshock and a couple of years post Half Life 2 it is amazing that this game does not garner more praise. My biggest issue is that they combat is a little clunky, but the story, the creative game play involving the use of alternating gravity, using teleportation portals, etc. along with strong voice acting (the female lead irritate the hell out of me at times and other times it was passable the rest of the voice acting was perfect), great visuals, the creative use of spirit and a really engaging story make this one hell of a good game.

    I hope that Prey 2 comes out of development hell, but then again it apparently will not have Tommy as the main protagonist despite the ending of Prey which is disappointing. But then again I could be totally off as there is not much known about Prey 2 other than the pissing match that goes on at time about who is to blame for it being stalled.

    If you like story driven games with the need to figure some things out too as you go, I would recommend this title. Its a bit hard to find as it is not available via any download outlets and you can find only a few copies on re-sellers like Amazon. This game is well worth a try and works great on the PC.    … Expand
  5. AndrewS.
    Feb 19, 2007
    8
    A good all round FPS. The doom 3 graphics engine looks as nice as ever and the sound for weapons, creatures etc are nicely done. The gameplay A good all round FPS. The doom 3 graphics engine looks as nice as ever and the sound for weapons, creatures etc are nicely done. The gameplay is very good with the basic puzzles breaking up the combat nicely. However there are some truly cliche moments in the plot and some may feel this game has little to offer in the way of a challenge as you effectively can't die. All of this taken into account. I highly recommend it.… Expand
  6. dA_kOr
    Aug 14, 2020
    8
    Zu Beginn, wirkt es ziemlich nuechtern, wenn nicht sogar befremdlich. Wer kann sich schon in ein Nachfahren von amerikanischen UreinwohnernZu Beginn, wirkt es ziemlich nuechtern, wenn nicht sogar befremdlich. Wer kann sich schon in ein Nachfahren von amerikanischen Ureinwohnern hinein versetzen? Was dazu fuehrt das es an emotionaler Naehe fehlt.
    Nachvollziehbar ist dagegen seine ablehnde Haltung, gegenueber seinen von Legenden und Mythen gepraegten Grossvater. Der ihm mit Geschichten seiner Vorfahren und dem Erbe seines Vermaechtnisses, in einer runtergekommen Spilunke, ein halbes Ohr abkaut. Sowie seine Bedürfnis das Reservat zu verlassen.

    Waehrend gerade noch seine, im Reservat fest verwurzelte, Freundin an der Bar belaestigt wird, kippt die ganze Szenerie, ohne Vorwarnung, in ein rasantes Spektakel.

    Lichter am Himmel, kein Radio- oder Fernsehempfang mehr, ein Truck der sich in die Luefte erhebt und kurzerhand verschwindet.
    Ploetzlich muss man hilflos mitansehen wie die Freundin und der Grossvater wegteleportiert werden. Im gleichen Augenblick, oeffnen sich aus dem Nichts Portale und Aliens treten auf den Plan.

    Ein Wimpernschlag spaeter, finden wir uns an der Seite vom Großvater und der Freundin wieder.
    Zusammen mit anderen 'Geernteten' beginnt die Odyssee fernab der blauen Kugel.

    Dieser letzte Fakt, hebt diesen Shooter beispiellos von der tristen Konkurrenz hervor.
    Level- vorallem aber das Waffendesign, haben die Bezeichnung 'extraterrestrisch' auf ein neues Nivaeu gehoben.
    Nicht zu vergessen die Portaltechnik, welche schlichtweg faszinierende Momente bietet.

    Sicherlich hat das Spiel, in meinen 'Augen', schwaechen (zu simple Raetsel, fehlender Tiefgang, geringer Wiederspielwert).

    Trotzalledem bleibt Prey ein Erlebnis, woran ich mich gern zurueck 'ERINNERE'.    … Expand
  7. JoshR.
    Dec 22, 2007
    7
    You know I often look for games that try to push what we currently know about certain gameplay genres (such as, in this case, First Person You know I often look for games that try to push what we currently know about certain gameplay genres (such as, in this case, First Person Shooter) and what I generally want to know first off is whether or not that clouded the judgement on every other aspect of the game. Is this innovation truly so or just a "gimmick"? Sadly, as I have read others who truly wanted more out of this experience say, Prey has fallen short of innovation (while still adding an idea to the FPS market that I hope really catches on in some way). The great thing about this game is truly the idea of messing around with gravity, physics, and even to some extent yer own soul. Unfortunately it really felt that when the developers came up with these ideas they didnt ask the good questions like "Now will we make all this work as a cohesive whole?" because quite honestly while the puzzles were great quite often I had no idea why some sequences were there and others were kind of used then forgotten. A good example to me is a great scene that blew my mind graphically. A room was created right before my eyes while im moving around not in a movie sequence but real time. A truly inspired moment that I only recall at the moment happening once. After finishing the game all I wanted to know was why they didnt mess with your head like that more often. The portals were a great idea but to me it felt like they knew they wanted them to add a great puzzle dynamic but in interest of using them alot they lost any sense of making it a cool thing to do throughout the entire game which left it feeling stale quite rapidly and just seemed no different then walking through a door once you got used to the idea. Innovation (or lack thereof) aside we have gameplay, graphics, and story left. Gameplay was pretty standard (molded in my opinoin straight from Doom 3) run... gun... solve a puzzle... get a soda (oh wait I did that in real life)... feel alone but have some- thing that drives you to keep going on this crazy ride... you get the idea I'm sure. I enjoy this formula (dont get me wrong at all) but it's not a captivating formula nor is it new. Graphics were pretty standard as well which is why those players out there not into fantastical Sci-Fi hated it the most. A standard idea for that is develop new conceptual designs (aliens, guns, enivronments) which they did quite well but in my opinoin (I personally just like great stories so i dont care how real or straight up fantastical it turns out) they didnt push the envelop enough in the innovation department (start over if you forgot :P) to really make you care. Like Doom 3 the maps are very dark. In this they did make me happy cus i was never blind but because they used the Doom 3 engine alot of environments while great concepts did feel dull (darkness tends to create that feel in games if not done well enough) and sometimes I really just wanted to have a scene in reality (like in the town hes from or something) because of this. I really did get sick of being on that ship it bored me so much. Lastly, the story wasnt captivating enough, it was the same old anti-hero (guy who doesnt want to take responsibility for his life, family, heritage) that gets thrust into a situation that forces him to face everything he hates. Not spectacular by any means and Im not gonna give anything away but they went really sappy with it to. All in all its fun to play worth paying a small fee (like 10$ or whatever its at now) but dont expect the innovative epic experience it wants you to get if your like me and you like your games to feel truly fleshed out. I had to give it a 7 and that was because it was fun to play but not worth playing again until im bored.… Expand
  8. KenC.
    Aug 19, 2006
    0
    A turgid mess of switches and portals. Tries to innovate, ends up instead with a bunch of gimmicks and tired, derivative gameplay.

See all 109 User Reviews

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Awards & Rankings

23
#23 Best PC Game of 2006
14
#14 Most Discussed PC Game of 2006
3
#3 Most Shared PC Game of 2006

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