Prey 2

by Chris Priestman
previewed on X360
You Can Run, But You Cannot Hide
As you can see, a significant change between Prey and this sequel is that the player adopts the role as predator, as opposed to being the prey like in the first game. In fact, Samuels is a bounty hunter and gets his jobs for instance from seedy informants in equally seedy strip clubs. Tracking down a target is done through an interface that not only guides the player towards the target but also outlines it through walls. Knowing the exact location, the player then has to decide on a course of action. During the demonstration, Samuel was offered help to get into the building by its security guard, for a fee of course. He declined and instead flipped the tables by taking the guard as a hostage. The guard continued to mutter insults and threats to Samuels, but the humour was soon cut short when the hostiles inside the building suddenly decided that Samuels' hostage was expendable and turned the guy into a bloody mush. The bounty then scampered leaving his men to deal with Samuels and ultimately leading into a mad dash to catch up with the target.
This is where the game does come into its own. Combining the first person platforming of Mirrors Edge and the ‘cover to cover’ acrobatics of Vanquish, Prey 2 grants the player a lot of flexibility during chase sequences. The bounty in the demonstration was able to teleport himself over short distances and dropped proximity mines behind him like there was no tomorrow. Samuel must move fast in the labyrinthine city to keep up while dodging explosions, turning any pursuit into a hazardous experience. He can attempt to slow down his bounty by selecting gadgets from a rotary wheel and by firing rockets or bursts of electricity to shock the target.
After some impressive and fluid manoeuvres, more enemy troops showed up offering Samuels the chance to show off some of his eccentric combat moves. Whether hanging from a ledge or sliding along a smooth surface on his backside, Samuels is able keep his finger on the trigger, taking enemies down at all times.
Inspector Gadget
Gadgets. Every cyberpunk protagonist has to have them. Samuel has a slew of gadgets and abilities that help him out in combat situations. They range from your typical night vision ability, physics bending powers, a deployable force shield and the mouth-opening anti-gravity wave.
The latter was used to finally detain the bounty, after Samuel had to decide what to do with him next. Simply sending him to the client and receiving payment was one option, but the target also pleaded for his life and offered a greater sum of money for his release as a second option. The third was to interrogating him for information regarding other bounties. No matter what choice you make, it will have some sort impact on the rest of the game. In this case, Samuels sent the bounty to the client and immediately received an angry message from the guy's brother who was already plotting his revenge.
Not Flat
With the city in Prey 2 so apparent in its design for the adrenaline-filled chase sequences, I can’t help but wonder how much variation the game offers outside of simply hunting your targets. Tommy will also be missed as the main protagonist but the Cherokee is said to play a "critical role" at some point in the game.
Whether Prey 2 will break up its action with something more than simply free-roaming bounty hunting remains to be seen. What we can be sure of is that it will be a fast-paced shooter that avoids feeling monotonous by offering plenty of verticality, rather than the flat plane of most of its peers.