Prey

[PeteJ]

Just tried the last chapter again from the new game selection screen and it's all okay now. so for those who get the crash during the credits, go to new game and select the final chapter, only takes 15-20 mins to do again and all is well, it's definitely worth seeing the credits

Yup. Nice music too

I didn't realise Jeremy Soule did the music until the credits, I didn't think it was as good as his work on Oblivion, but it did fit the mood. Most of the time I didn't notice it was really music, rather thought it was some sort of machinery kicking into gear!

I really liked the use of licenced music in the game, was used rarely but always to good effect.

[MonkeyWrench]

Still working my way through it, not sure how long I've been playing but it seems a reasonable amount of time.

On the subject of Prey I found this website:

http://www.apogeegames.com/prey/files/files.htm

Loads of shots and movies of the original Prey...marvel at the reflective floor!

[Soi]

Yup. Nice music too

I didn't realise Jeremy Soule did the music until the credits, I didn't think it was as good as his work on Oblivion, but it did fit the mood. Most of the time I didn't notice it was really music, rather thought it was some sort of machinery kicking into gear!

I really liked the use of licenced music in the game, was used rarely but always to good effect.

The soundtrack is good (my play order gave me the soundtrack for free), and I like it. I think that Prey doesn't quite make the most of it though. Most of the time, no music is playing.

[gaz@manc]

So exactly how short is this? Are we talkin 5 or so hours, or around 10?

[marcus]

Finished the game just now, enjoyed it pretty much all the way through. I liked the setting, visually the game is quite nice with some astounding moments on occasion. Its by no means a Half-Life by any stretch of the imagination, but so far as 360 FPS games go its probably the best at the moment.

Best bits for me were the occasional human parts on the ship, the bit with the bar was great, made all the more better because generally the ship itself felt very 'alien' and coming across recognizeable objects was very cool. The radio-DJ chatter was good also, nice touch. Liked a few of the puzzles that involved the spirit, and the disorientation brought on by the switches and wall walking made the game a little different from the rest.

Didnt feel the AI was particularly good at all, very predictable and most offered little in the way of challenge - more often than not I could just steamroller my way through enemies that were more than happy to stand there taking my fire.

Also, I didnt like the completely needless and unnecessary swearing especially towards the end - what is it about games these days and swearing, its not cool its just plain lazy, a game like this doesnt need it - its not San Andreas.

The default difficulty really isnt that challenging, and its not a long game, started this yesterday morning and finished mid-afternoon today, probably took about 5-6 hours Id guess. That doesnt bother me, Ill simply sell the game on as its not a keeper, and move onto something else, but for those looking for a big 1 player game then this isnt it.

Going to try online a bit to see if I can earn some achievements. Not bad, enjoyable but flawed. Hoping the inevitable sequel builds on this promising start.

[Jei]

So exactly how short is this? Are we talkin 5 or so hours, or around 10?

My save game states just over 6hrs if thats any help

[marcus]

Much the same as nearly every other game I have tried on Live, the last half hour has been spent trying to connect to games that then kick me out, waiting to refresh lists in the lobby, or getting booted back to the main screen after another failed connection. Eventually when I do get to play its a laggy mess and is unplayable. I did manage one proper game that said, and it seemed pretty unexciting, but at least the connection was ok. I cant see any way I can establish how good a connection is until actually entering the game. Live for me remains about as much fun as pulling teeth

[Jei]

Marcus - When you do the Live Connection Test does it show your NAT as Strict or Open?

[Soi]

People host games who shouldn't -that is the fault. If you have a ****e 512meg connection and you are downloading stuff, you'll be a crap host and everyone will be laggy. Halo 2 had the right idea -the host is picked automatically as the guy with the best connection. I've no idea why every Live game hasn't followed the Halo 2 model, but there you go.

In games like Prey, if you have a good connection, you should create a game. That is what I do (I've got 1.3meg upload). If I create a game in Prey in fills up in minutes and is lag free for everyone.

[marcus]

In fairness, I just hosted a game and it was perfect, as you say. Ive a 10Mb connection so will probably stick to hosting I guess.

[IanE]

Yes you can. I was offered Cherokee when I started my first game. Mine is the 360 version be the way.

I'm really liking this game. I think the weapons are great, and I'm even liking the deathmatch. It just feels right and the varied weapons/spirit walking make it interesting. As do portals -you can really confuse people with them.

You have to complete the singleplayer in Normal to be able to play it, if you try and select it, it tells you that.

The Cheroke difficulty setting was available from the get go for me too and I haven't even been near the multiplayer mode.

It's not available to select though, just to see.

My experience: about four or five lock-ups, once in the middle of walking somewhere, and four after going into a loading screen after completing a level (but getting the Achievement unlocked text). Irritating.

The game was alright, nothing special, but some nice ideas which made it less of a chore than anything. When it works, the multiplayer is decent. I've got a 512Kb upload, so going to make use of that later!

[Spatial]

Not a bad game all in all - I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish and there were some pretty memorable moments and goings on to keep in interesting.

Might have only been around the six hours mark but it felt like it was the right length for the game.

Had an

->Open Spoiler<-

Eternal Darkness bathroom moment

towards the end

->Open Spoiler<-

with The Keeper and the flashing imagery

mind - almost made me spill my beer

[Matt]

I'm about halfway through and enjoying it. Nice ideas, maybe even a few too many ideas which is unusual (I keep forgetting to try the Spirit World when I get stuck somewhere).

One or two changes and it could be so much better. Ammo seems to be lacking, which is annoying in a shooter. That could possibly be down to my lack of accuracy, which takes me to the second gripe - all shots seem to require pinpoint accuracy to hit. The game should be a bit more generous. Hitting enemies is far harder than other FPS's. Even in the flying craft thing, you big presumably powerful shots need to be dead accurate and even then don't do much damage - shooting a troop on the floor takes a couple of direct hits. Compare to the very similar stuff in Halo and the joy of spamming enemy troops from above

Going to try multiplayer tomorrow. Single player is making a nice diversion between the Chromehound wars.

[nonny]

How does multiplayer stack up?

I know it only has 8 maps and just deathmatch and team deathmatch but what sort of bandwidth requirements are we talking (as the demo was very laggy online) and how stable is it overall?

[MonkeyWrench]

Completed this it last night, really enjoyed it. It was nothing too special, and without all the little quirks it would have been just a bog standard sci-fi shooter. There's some great level design in there, it must screw with a designers head when you have to work with that extra dimension