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This article refers to the 2006 video game by Human Head Studios. For the 2017 video game by Arkane Studios of the same name, see Prey (2017).

"We are next."
—Tagline[src]

Prey is a first-person shooter video game developed by Human Head Studios under contract for 3D Realms and published by 2K. Additionally, an Xbox 360 version was ported by Venom Games. The game was initially released in North America and Europe on July 11, 2006, and uses a heavily modified version of id Tech 4 to use portals and variable gravity to create the environments the player explores.

The game's story is focused on Cherokee Domasi "Tommy" Tawodi as he, his girlfriend, and grandfather are abducted aboard an alien spaceship known as the Sphere as it consumes material from the Earth in order to sustain itself. Tommy's Cherokee heritage allows him to let his spirit roam freely at times and come back to life after dying, which gives Tommy an edge in his battle to survive.

Prey had been in development since 1995 and has had several major revisions. While the general approach to gameplay, including the use of portals, remained in the game, the story and setting changed several times. The game received generally positive reviews, with critics praising its graphics and gameplay but criticizing its multiplayer component for a lack of content.

The game was a commercial success, selling more than one million copies in the first two months of its release and leading to the abortive development of its sequel Prey 2. The rights to Prey passed on to Bethesda Softworks who released a game of the same name developed by Arkane Studios in 2017.

Gameplay

Prey is a first-person shooter with the player in control of the protagonist Tommy as he explores the extraterrestrial spacecraft known as the Sphere and fights its inhabitants aboard. During the game, the player will collect a number of alien weapons, some comparable to typical first-person shooter archetypes, others more alien in behavior.

The game's engine introduces two unique aspects to exploration. Portals in the game can transport the player from one area to another instantly and can be looked, shot through (you are able to shoot yourself by mistake), and can also be traveled in reverse. Unlike the later game Portal, the player cannot create portals directly without the use of mods, and portals remain fixed in space.[1] The game also features variable gravity with special paths that allow the player to walk along them remaining upright regardless of orientation. However, should the player fall or voluntarily jump off the path, gravity will reassert itself. Small planetoids inside The Sphere can also exhibit their own gravity fields allowing the player to walk completely around the its outside.

The player can also detach Tommy's spirit from his body, allowing the spirit to roam freely for a short time. The spirit has limited interaction with the environment, though it is able to activate control panels and can use a spirit bow to strike at foes. The spirit force is often used to solve environmental puzzles within the game as well as to locate paths that are not visible to mortal eyes. Although Tommy dies when his health is depleted, he is resurrected after a brief period during which his spirit can increase the health the revived body will have. Two vehicles make an appearance in the game. Shuttles are flying vehicles used frequently for travel and attacking (as well as puzzle solving), and a Transport is only used for a short period near the end of the game.

The bar that the game begins in is interactive, with usable restroom facilities, a TV with various channels (including a clip from Duck and Cover), a fully playable Pac-Man-style game called Rune Man (referring to a previous game by Human Head Studios called Rune), several video casino machines (including blackjack, draw poker, and a slot machine), and a jukebox that plays a small selection of licensed songs.

Game Modes

Plot

Domasi "Tommy" Tawodi is a Cherokee mechanic and former U.S. Army soldier living on a Native American reservation in Oklahoma. The game begins with Tommy in the Roadhouse bar owned by his girlfriend, Jen, whom he tries to convince to leave the reservation with him, though she refuses. After an argument between the two, a fight erupts in the bar when two men will not leave and start harassing Jen. After the fight is over, the building is suddenly lifted up by some kind of force into a green light above. Tommy, Jen, Tommy's grandfather Enisi, and other captives are then transported to a massive alien starship called the Sphere. When Tommy is freed in an explosion set off by a mysterious cybernetic stranger who appears to be working against the Sphere, Tommy begins his journey to survive and return back to Earth with his loved ones.

During his escape, Tommy witnesses Enisi's brutal death in an alien device. While attempting to find Jen, he has a near-death experience and travels to an afterlife known as the Land of the Ancients, where his grandfather bestows spiritual powers upon him. Tommy gains the ability to separate from his body to pass through obstacles, come back to life after being killed, and aid from his spirit guide, the ghost of his childhood pet hawk, Talon. Despite being entrusted by his ancestors with the mission to protect Earth from the Sphere, Tommy is only really interested in saving Jen.

Tommy later finds Jen, whose torso has been surgically attached to a reptile-like creature that attempts to kill Tommy. Because Jen cannot control the beast she is attached to, Tommy is reluctantly forced to kill it, in the process also mercy-killing Jen. Meanwhile, Tommy learns that the Sphere is an organic alien ship with the main goal of maintaining itself by preying on various alien races. The Sphere houses many of these alien races, which have become mindless drones in servitude of keeping it intact. The keepers of the Sphere, who appear to be responsible for its creation, plant life on other planets, and periodically return to harvest it. Additionally, a small band of human rebels on the Sphere named the Hidden have not lost control of themselves and, led by Elhuit, hope to destroy the Sphere and return to Earth.

Tommy finds that the Keepers and their drones are controlled by the Mother, who communicates telepathically with him throughout the game. She reveals to Tommy that she too was once human and fought the previous Mother of the Sphere, who persuaded her to take its place as the new Mother. After Tommy defeats her, the Mother begs Tommy to take her place, acquiring god-like powers in the process, or else the Sphere will perish. While tempted, Enisi's spirit contacts Tommy reminding him of his humanity and duty. Tommy heeds his grandfather's advice and drives the Sphere into the Sun, after which he ends up in the Land of the Ancients once more to see Enisi and Jen. Tommy returns to Earth, knowing that he will see them both again when his time comes.

Six months later, Tommy rebuilt Jen's Roadhouse bar taking on ownership. He hears a radio announcement in which Oklahoma City mayor Tom Jackson and the federal government's official story for what happened six months ago was that all the missing persons vanished due to an unknown natural phenomenon. Suddenly, Elhuit arrives in the bar and explains to Tommy that she and other Hidden escaped through a portal just before Tommy destroyed the Sphere. She tells Tommy that powerful beings elsewhere wish to meet him and opens a portal. Tommy steps through the portal made by Elhuit as the words "Prey will continue ..." appear on-screen.

Levels

  1. Last Call
  2. Escape Velocity
  3. Downward Spiral
  4. Rites of Passage
  5. Second Chances
  6. All Fall Down
  7. Crash Landing
  8. Sacrifices
  9. There Are Others
  10. Guiding Fires
  11. The Old Tribes
  12. Hidden Agenda
  13. Jen
  14. The Dark Harvest
  15. Following Her
  16. The Complex
  17. Ascent
  18. Center of Gravity
  19. Resolutions
  20. Oath of Vengeance
  21. Facing the Enemy
  22. Mother's Embrace

Special Editions

Limited Collector's Edition

Collectors-contents

Prey shipped in a Limited Collector's Edition for both PC and Xbox 360. The official retail price is US$60 for PC and US$70 for X360. The following comes in the package:

A third (Mutate) pewter figurine was available separately for purchase to complete the collection of 3 pewter figurines

Awards

Won / Received

Game Informer - Top 10 Video Game Openings

PC Gamer US - Game of the Year Awards 2006

Nominated

Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences - 10th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards

Legacy

Shortly after the game's release, 3D Realms' Scott Miller confirmed that a sequel named Prey 2 was in development. On March 17, 2008, Miller's brand-management group Radar Group was launched, along with the announcement that it was managing Prey 2, slated for release for PC and Xbox 360. The game was being developed in cooperation with Human Head Studios.

Prey Invasion is a first-person shooter video game developed by MachineWorks, and published by Hands-On Mobile in cooperation with 3D Realms for iOS.

In 2009, the rights to the franchise were acquired by Bethesda Softworks and id Software parent company ZeniMax Media. On October 30, 2014, during PAX Australia, Bethesda Softworks vice-president Pete Hines confirmed that Prey 2 has subsequently been canceled.[2] Pete Hines stated as follows, "it was a game we believed in, but we never felt that it got to where it needed to be – we never saw a path to success if we finished it. It wasn't up to our quality standard, and we decided to cancel it. It's no longer in development. That wasn't an easy decision, but it's one that won't surprise many folks given that we hadn't been talking about it. Human Head Studios is no longer working on it. It's a franchise we still believe we can do something with — we just need to see what that something is."

During its 2016 E3 press conference, Bethesda announced Prey developed by Arkane Studios for release in 2017 on Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The new game is not connected to the previous game.

Eventually, the team would come full circle after the 2019 closure of Human Head Studios shortly after the release of Rune II with most of the staff moving on to Bethesda-managed Roundhouse Studios.

On December 24, 2022, an early, playable 1995 prototype of Prey was leaked to the Internet.

Gallery

Videos

External Links

References

  1. ↑ 2006's Prey Was Trying to Be Portal Before Portal – IGN Unfiltered
  2. ↑ Bethesda Officially Confirms Prey 2 Cancellation