PREY (Xbox 360)
Some details on what will possibly be one of the summer’s hottest games have come out recently, and of course I’m talking about PREY.
The story of Prey centers on Tommy, a Cherokee garage mechanic, and his girlfriend Jen. Meanwhile, an invisible, gigantic Moon-sized alien ship called the, “Sphere” has begun floating in orbit around Earth, and suddenly Tommy and Jen are beamed to the ship, and the game begins.
The game looks to be a shooter in the Quake/Doom sense, rather than a Halo or Half-Life type FPS, but it looks to change it up a bit with a few unique things. The alien ship you are on is actually “living” so that means that some of the enemies come right out of the floor or wall, and the walls and doors react to your every movement.
Following you around the whole time is an ethereal hawk named Talon. The bird was given to you by your spirit guide, who you’ll meet periodically throughout your travels through the Sphere. These meetings will take place in the land of the ancients, the precise details of which we still know little about though the spirit guide will hint about special powers and the greater purpose of your mission. After he gives you Talon, life in the Sphere becomes a little easier. Though you have no direct control over the bird, Talon is able to decipher alien text for you, distract enemies and perch on important obstacles. When he’s not helping out, Talon will lazily float overhead and alight on a nearby railing or pipe whenever you stop moving around.
PREY for the Xbox 360 is only 3 weeks behind its PC counter-part in terms of development and it’s been confirmed that both versions of the game look identical, and will release on the same day, which will most likely be sometime this summer. I believe it’ll be one of the better games of 2006, as its bringing new things to the table, and a pretty cool storyline in my opinion.