Brief Synopsis - The year is 2032. You play as Morgan Yu, who keeps living the same day again and again in a simulated environment, with no memories of the previous day. You are part of an experiment involving Typhons (the aliens in the game). One day you break out of the simulation and realise you are on a Space station, Talos 1 and its filled with Typhons, who kill almost all the humans aboard the station. You have to scavenge for resources, defeat the Typhons, find other humans and get the hell out of the station.
Pros 1. Great environment, very much inspired by horror classics such as Resident Evil, Dead Space etc. The emphasis is less on action and shootouts and more on survival horror, where you have to scavenge for resources, conserve ammo and items and choose when to act and when to run away. 2. Since it is developed by Arkane Studios (the studio behind Dishonored series), its influence is also seen, with the player unlocking various abilities, sandbox levels (choose how you play) with various nooks and crannies to explore, side missions which take you all across the map with great rewards in the end etc. 3. The game gives you a good reason to collect and hoard items, junk and other resources. You can choose to recycle various waste items into various materials to build ammo, Neuromods, items such as med kits etc. 4. Human and Typhon abilities are awesome. It's great fun to mix and match abilities and playstyles. You can choose to develop only Human or only Typhon abilities. Alternatively, you can choose NOT to develop any abilities, just like Dishonored. 5. Mimics are scary. And the Nightmare... and the Military Operators. 6. Great graphics and sound. The OST is great and the background sounds are really scary and fit the atmosphere.
Cons 1. Loading times. While it's not a big issue, but whenever you enter a new area, you first have a loading screen. This is more prevalent and irritating once you unlock side missions or progress further into the story where you have to travel all across the station. 2. The contrast between the two styles i.e. sandbox and survival horror, is not executed perfectly. Stealth build / playstyle is a joke compared to Dishonored. You have various tools, but the items and ammo are very scarce and half the time you have to choose whether to build ammo or items, which is very frustrating. 3. While you do have various tools, it still feels that there is a lack of variety, especially in weapons. You have the godly wrench, the always handy Gloo gun, semi-automatic/burst silent pistol, shotgun, laser shooting Q-beam, the not-at-all useful Huntress Boltcaster. Human enemies such as security guards do not use any assault rifles or SMGs. Enemies such as corrupt operators use shock rods, flamethrowers, and turrets have machine guns. How come we don't get to use that? 4. While the Typhons are terrifying at first, it soon becomes a chore to fight them, due to their huge numbers. After a while you become numb and dread these encounters, not because it's hard, but due to Typhons being bullet sponges. 5. It's a good story with a bad ending. The developers pulled a MGS5 on us. Spoiler - You are not playing as Morgan, but a Human-Typhon phantom or hybrid who has Morgan's memories and are reliving Morgan's memories in a simulation. The real Morgan is likely dead. Your "brother" Alex created a you, a hybrid being to test if a Typhon can have any human traits or not. All your allies are actually drones (Mikhaila, Dr. Igwe, Eliza etc.). The earth is conquered by the Typhon and midst of a war (I think?), so none of your actions on Talos 1 made any difference, coz it was a simulation after all. All these revelations come in the last 5 minutes, just like MGS5. It's a simulation inside a simulation inside a simulation. A Simuception. As lazy and mind-numbingly frustrating as it was in MGS5, it's the same in Prey 2017. 6. However, it's kind of obvious when you first unlock a video of Morgan talking to the you, the player (you as Morgan are a mute protagonist). And in many of the audio and video logs you find as you play through the main campaign, Morgan does speak and has a very distinct personality. Just like Big Boss. And you play basically play as his "mute phantom" (literally?)
Final review - For me the game is 7/10. I haven't played Mooncrash DLC and I'm not going to, at least for some time, coz playing the main game drained my mental stamina A LOT (and often in a good way). This game deserves a sequel and hopefully the developers show an interest in making one.
Pros 1. Great environment, very much inspired by horror classics such as Resident Evil, Dead Space etc. The emphasis is less on action and shootouts and more on survival horror, where you have to scavenge for resources, conserve ammo and items and choose when to act and when to run away. 2. Since it is developed by Arkane Studios (the studio behind Dishonored series), its influence is also seen, with the player unlocking various abilities, sandbox levels (choose how you play) with various nooks and crannies to explore, side missions which take you all across the map with great rewards in the end etc. 3. The game gives you a good reason to collect and hoard items, junk and other resources. You can choose to recycle various waste items into various materials to build ammo, Neuromods, items such as med kits etc. 4. Human and Typhon abilities are awesome. It's great fun to mix and match abilities and playstyles. You can choose to develop only Human or only Typhon abilities. Alternatively, you can choose NOT to develop any abilities, just like Dishonored. 5. Mimics are scary. And the Nightmare... and the Military Operators. 6. Great graphics and sound. The OST is great and the background sounds are really scary and fit the atmosphere.
Cons 1. Loading times. While it's not a big issue, but whenever you enter a new area, you first have a loading screen. This is more prevalent and irritating once you unlock side missions or progress further into the story where you have to travel all across the station. 2. The contrast between the two styles i.e. sandbox and survival horror, is not executed perfectly. Stealth build / playstyle is a joke compared to Dishonored. You have various tools, but the items and ammo are very scarce and half the time you have to choose whether to build ammo or items, which is very frustrating. 3. While you do have various tools, it still feels that there is a lack of variety, especially in weapons. You have the godly wrench, the always handy Gloo gun, semi-automatic/burst silent pistol, shotgun, laser shooting Q-beam, the not-at-all useful Huntress Boltcaster. Human enemies such as security guards do not use any assault rifles or SMGs. Enemies such as corrupt operators use shock rods, flamethrowers, and turrets have machine guns. How come we don't get to use that? 4. While the Typhons are terrifying at first, it soon becomes a chore to fight them, due to their huge numbers. After a while you become numb and dread these encounters, not because it's hard, but due to Typhons being bullet sponges. 5. It's a good story with a bad ending. The developers pulled a MGS5 on us. Spoiler - You are not playing as Morgan, but a Human-Typhon phantom or hybrid who has Morgan's memories and are reliving Morgan's memories in a simulation. The real Morgan is likely dead. Your "brother" Alex created a you, a hybrid being to test if a Typhon can have any human traits or not. All your allies are actually drones (Mikhaila, Dr. Igwe, Eliza etc.). The earth is conquered by the Typhon and midst of a war (I think?), so none of your actions on Talos 1 made any difference, coz it was a simulation after all. All these revelations come in the last 5 minutes, just like MGS5. It's a simulation inside a simulation inside a simulation. A Simuception. As lazy and mind-numbingly frustrating as it was in MGS5, it's the same in Prey 2017. 6. However, it's kind of obvious when you first unlock a video of Morgan talking to the you, the player (you as Morgan are a mute protagonist). And in many of the audio and video logs you find as you play through the main campaign, Morgan does speak and has a very distinct personality. Just like Big Boss. And you play basically play as his "mute phantom" (literally?)
Final review - For me the game is 7/10. I haven't played Mooncrash DLC and I'm not going to, at least for some time, coz playing the main game drained my mental stamina A LOT (and often in a good way). This game deserves a sequel and hopefully the developers show an interest in making one.