Tommy, however, knows little about those initial events, absorbed instead in his own problems. This angry young Cherokee man wants nothing more than to leave the reservation with his girlfriend, Jen, who tends bar at the local dive, known as the Roadhouse. She won’t go with him. Meanwhile, his grandfather, Enisi, implores him to accept his Indian heritage. Tommy becomes frustrated with both of them.
That fateful night begins with Enisi cryptically telling him that he has come to the Roadhouse because he is needed. After Tommy teaches two local toughs a lesson when they harass Jen, the evening goes haywire. Something hovering above the bar begins tearing the roof apart and shooting beams into its interior. Jen, Tommy, and Enisi are pulled skyward.
Walkin’ on the Ceiling. You’re looking at a hologram of The Sphere, and that Hunter down below — er, up above? — is about to interrupt your gawking.
They find themselves trapped in an enormous spaceship far above the Earth, shuttling along a track toward a gruesome fate, as evidenced by the screams around them. An explosion caused by a mysterious humanoid frees Tommy, giving him the chance to save Jen. Along the way, he discovers his Cherokee heritage and the spiritual powers that come with it. He’ll need every available edge to save Jen and prevent others from meeting a similar end.
“The theme of rediscovering and accepting one’s heritage [is the dominant one in Prey]”
- project lead Chris Rhinehart
Engines of Inspiration
Human Head Studios used the Doom 3 engine to drive Prey’s moody graphics, pushing its capabilities to the limit as they rendered the alien spaceship, known as The Sphere, and the creatures that inhabit it. In the role of Tommy, you move through many dark environments, sometimes forced to flick on a lighter to see your surroundings.
Tommy begins his time on The Sphere armed with just a wrench, but he quickly gets access to the aliens’ weapons. He also begins a spiritual reawakening thanks to Enisi, who dies soon after he arrives on The Sphere but comes back as a ghost to impart knowledge to his grandson.
Next Stop: Another Platform. Shuttles like this one help you traverse large distances.
“There were definitely a lot of ways in which we were inspired,” explains project lead Chris Rhinehart. “Of course, the classic sci-fi films, such as Aliens and The Matrix, inspired us, and we were also inspired by the writing of Joss Whedon — known for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly — in the way he injects self-referencing humor.”
Rhinehart notes that Prey’s storyline is focused on “the theme of rediscovering and accepting one’s heritage,” an idea that constantly dogs Tommy as he explores The Sphere and discovers its dark secrets. Enisi teaches him about spirit walking, as well as how to battle through the Death Realm and return to his body. Both elements bring new wrinkles to typical first-person shooter gameplay, as do the gravity flipping and wall walking capabilities found on The Sphere.
Beast Battle. You wouldn’t like this guy when he gets really angry.
New Ways to Play
Spirit walking enables Tommy to access places that his physical body can’t. While he spirit walks, he carries a bow and arrow that he uses against enemies, although it depletes his spirit energy each time he fires it. Attacks by The Sphere’s demonic aliens also take away his spirit energy, which he replenishes by absorbing the pools of life force left behind by dead enemies.
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Mature Content Advisory
This game is only suitable for individuals 17 years of age or older.
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“We were also inspired by the writing of Joss Whedon — known for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly — in the way he injects self-referencing humor.”
- Rhinehart
“Geronimo believed he had the ability to leave his body for short periods of time and that he was invulnerable to bullets while out of his body,” Rhinehart relates. “That idea formed the basis for the spirit walk ability in Prey.”
He adds that the Death Realm, which replaces the typical “Game Over” screen found in most first-person shooters, came about “because we were frustrated by the ‘die, reload, try again, die, reload, try again’ cycle. We wanted something to alleviate that frustration. While it wasn’t a perfect universal solution, it certainly proved that games could have alternative solutions to that cycle.”
School’s Out Forever. Creepy aliens take the guise of children. Luckily, Talon is around to help.
Deeper Into The Sphere
Gravity flipping and wall walking are found in certain spots around The Sphere. The former enables you to reverse gravity by shooting sensors that send you to the ceiling, where you can access portals, ammunition stockpiles, and other important game elements. The latter comes in the form of lighted walkways that allow you to walk along ceilings and walls, turning some areas into Mobius strips.
“Gravity flipping and wall walking were both mechanics that we had wanted to put into games for a long time,” explains Rhinehart. “But the last few games we did weren’t sci-fi games and so the mechanics didn’t really fit.”
Refills Are on the House. Fuel up the leech gun at stations scattered around The Sphere. This room seems familiar, doesn’t it?
Those aforementioned portals lead to new areas of The Sphere, taking Tommy deeper and deeper into a complex structure that has a sun at its core. Enisi sends the spirit of Talon, a hawk Tommy owned when he was a boy, to assist him. Talon translates the alien language into English and attacks enemies when they come near, running vital interference for our hero.
Eventually, Tommy discovers the existence of humans who are fighting against The Sphere, which is controlled by an entity known as The Mother. Imbued with the powers that came with his spiritual reawakening, Tommy helps them in their struggle. Ultimately, the outcome of the war lies in your hands.
If you liked this game, check out:
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