Prey (Digital Deluxe Edition)

I went into Prey expecting a competent sci-fi shooter and came out the other side having lost an entire weekend to crew logs, Neuromod trees, and a single locked door I refused to give up on. That tension between "I need to get somewhere" and "there are fourteen ways to get there" is exactly what Arkane does best, and Prey might be their purest expression of it. You play as Morgan Yu, researcher aboard the Talos I space station, and the Typhon alien outbreak that greets you is mostly a pretext for the real game: reading every terminal, hunting every keycard, and deciding which version of Morgan you want to become. The build system is the engine of everything. Human Neuromods cover hacking, leverage, repair, and combat upgrades, while a separate Typhon skill tree unlocks abilities like Mimic Matter, letting you transform into objects to sneak past threats. Go too deep into alien powers and the station's own turrets turn on you, which is a genuinely elegant way to make your upgrade choices feel meaningful rather than cosmetic. The GLOO Cannon is the other signature toy: it fires hardening foam that immobilizes enemies, extinguishes fires, and creates climbable platforms on the fly. It is arguably the most versatile single weapon in any first-person game of its era. Combat itself is not the strongest element, as enemies can feel spongey and resources drain fast in the opening hours, but the moment you stop treating Prey like a shooter and start treating it like a puzzle, it clicks. Talos I is the real star. The station is one interconnected space with distinct zones, from the Lobby and Arboretum to the Psychotronics lab and the zero-gravity exterior hull. Backtracking is real and can drag in the late game, especially across multiple airlock load screens, but the density of environmental storytelling, readable emails, audio logs, and hidden side quests makes re-traversal feel less like padding than in most games that pull the same trick. Expect a 20-25 hour first playthrough if you explore thoroughly. The Mooncrash DLC is the bundle's second major draw and it holds up. Set on a TranStar moon base, it reframes the immersive sim template as a roguelite: five playable characters, procedurally shuffled enemy placements, and an escalating corruption meter that forces you to work efficiently rather than hoard resources. Community sentiment largely treats Mooncrash as a legitimate companion piece rather than filler, and it is easy to see why. It was reportedly a proving ground for ideas that later fed into Deathloop. Typhon Hunter, the asymmetric multiplayer component, is the weak link. One player hunts five others who hide as shapeshifted Mimic objects, which sounds great on paper. In practice the multiplayer population has been sparse for years and the mode shipped with limited maps and bare-bones PC settings. The solo VR puzzle rooms are a curiosity at best. The Digital Deluxe Edition is the right way to buy Prey if you have not already. Mooncrash alone justifies the upgrade over the base game for anyone who finishes the campaign and wants more. Typhon Hunter is unlikely to occupy you for long, but its inclusion costs nothing extra. If you have any affection for System Shock, Bioshock, or Dishonored and somehow skipped this in 2017, that oversight is worth correcting.

Alex · Scout Team

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