‘Prey’ Gameplay Trailer Does Not Show Much Gameplay: ‘To Make This Right, Someone Has To Die’
A Prey gameplay trailer was featured at QuakeCon on Thursday. Bethesda offered attendees to the annual event the first glimpse of in-game footage since the title was revealed at E3.
The new video offers a bit more gameplay footage than the launch trailer did, but not much more. Attendees of QuakeCon apparently got to see more than what is in the trailer. TechSpot reported on scenes that showed off the main character’s strange, alien powers. That footage is not shown in the trailer.
The video is narrated by Morgan Yu, the protagonist in the game. While the scenes are somewhat unremarkable, Morgan’s narration makes it compelling. His voiceover comes across as a personal log or voice journal entry. He starts out relatively calm while he talks about something out in the stars watching him.
“I can’t see it, but it sees me,” Morgan says as his voice grows increasingly dire. “It sees — everything.”
As the gameplay scenes commence, Yu’s voice becomes breathless and urgent as he explains that the space station, Talos-1, is not the only thing under threat. If whatever is onboard escapes, humanity will be “lost.”
The Prey gameplay trailer ends with Morgan cryptically saying, “To make this right, someone has to die.”
The video shows a small amount of gunplay, but only with the pistol and the shotgun. Not much else is revealed about the story that was not already known, other than a little bit gleaned from the narration.
The creatures in the Prey gameplay trailer look somewhat like shadows, dark and wispy, with form, but not much substance. Adding to the feeling that the entities are insubstantial is that they can transform into objects like chairs and other things in their surroundings. Furthermore, when they are shot, they seem to explode into black smoke. The effect leaves one wondering if the creatures are indeed destroyed or just temporarily banished into a substance that can reform later. The ghost-like monsters sometimes move very quickly, as if teleporting or moving via some other nonphysical means.
Prey: "Not a single element of Prey 2" included, says Bethesda's Hines: https://t.co/y3164GyED5 #E32016 pic.twitter.com/4DSu3L4u20
— Stevivor (@Stevivor) June 17, 2016
Leading up to E3, fans were expecting a sequel or a reboot of the original Prey. However, Bethesda’s E3 presentation showed that the game was entirely different from the original. The company described it as a “reimagining” of the original franchise.
Some are excited about the new direction the game is taking, but many fans of the original are not happy.
One person commented on the Prey gameplay trailer posted to YouTube by Bethesda, “This is not the game I Preyed for.”
Another user states, “No portals? No weird space-bending puzzles? No spirituality concepts? ? Why bother calling it Prey?”
The mention of a “spirituality concept” is referring to one of the core gameplay features in the original Prey. In that game, the protagonist was of Cherokee lineage. In the course of the story, his grandfather is killed and becomes the player’s spirit guide. The old sage teaches the player how to summon spiritual powers to overcome obstacles and combat enemies. It added a unique feature to the game that went beyond the usual gunplay seen in most first-person shooters.
On the official website, Bethesda says, “Gain alien abilities to develop a distinct combination of powers and upgrade your unique skills.”
TechSpot also notes, “Some of those alien powers include the ability to transform yourself into inanimate objects. Footage shown at QuakeCon featured Yu turning into a mug so he can roll through a small gap, and his ability to use a kinetic blast so he can fly into the air when disguised as a small object.”
Whether the new theme to the old game will live up to the expectations of the title’s original fans is uncertain. If the negative feedback on the new Prey gameplay trailer is anything to go by, Bethesda has a steep hill to climb to satisfy those fans.
No release date is set for Prey yet, although the official website states that it is coming in 2017.
[Image via Bethesda Softworks]
