Prey DEMO

Tried the Prey Demo at the weekend, and I thought it was sufficiently interesting enough to complete the demo and toy with the idea of buying it.

I don't like the hackneyed plot, and the Tommy Hawk thing, just too cheesey. But, I think the whole "alien abduction" sequence was done with a lot of credibility. Theres enough confusion once let loose to impart a sense of danger and panic, and once you start to experience to portals and the gravity stuff it does get very interesting, although if you suffer from motion sickness this one will have you reeling. There is a lot of disorientation towards the end of the demo. I was starting to feel a bit spewy, and normally I'm quite immune to motion sickness.

I love the idea of Cherokee spirit powers, but not necessarily in an alien spaceship. They're mixing two unknowns. You're exploring what stuff the alien race dishes out, and then suddenly, you're having to meld this with new spiritual based powers that just don't sit right. They're clever an all. And I did appreciate the spirit bow. But you're having to think now can this weird new spirit power I've just been bestowed with, take me through an alien forcefield, or not? Can it? Try it. Yes it can. But theres no logic to the two things, the alien technology is alien. The spirit powers are also alien to you. Obviously after a few hours playing you'll logically match the mechanisms to navigate around and use the two, but on first hit, it was very confusing. Like two unknowns clashing severely and as much as I wanted to be cool with my spirit powers, I also liked the alien gun technology.

Still, with enough good looking alien stuff, and some crazy indian spirit stuff I can imagine delving into my pockets for this one. It's got a whole lot more novelty and mechanism to play with than say Far Cry has. Haven't tried the multiplayer out yet. Although I suspect you'll get something approaching Quake4-ish.