I played through all of Prey as fast as I could. I'd like to tell I did this to put together a brilliant and well-reasoned review for you, because I did actually write a brilliant and well-reasoned for you, but I actually did it because I after I started playing it I became moderately obsessed with it.

The review is spoiler-free, despite the fact that I really want to talk about spoiler related stuff.

Talos 1, on the other hand, is a place I'd love to live. Well, before the… unpleasantness anyway. That's how you know Prey is a 'Shock' game — because key to those games is a feeling of a paradise turned bad. System Shock — which is clearly the primary source of inspiration for Prey — and BioShock both show you a wonderful, captivating environment and then fill it with nastiness.

Read the review now, and let's talk about Prey in the comments below!

As we already revealed, we spoke with Raphael Colantonio earlier this week about Arkane's newest game Prey. As well as talking about the absent PC demo, we also spoke to the co-creative director at Arkane about the challenges of creating systems heavy games, how plot can better fit into games and more.

One thing which was particularly interesting - the GLOO cannon, which allows players to do everything from freeze alien baddies to climb walls they shouldn't be traversing, was almost cut from the game.

The GLOO cannon had a programmer pretty much full-time on it. It used to be even more versatile, you could literally build bridges. But it was not good for performance, not necessarily good for gameplay.

It's a tool that I personally tried to kill many times and Ricardo Bare, the lead designer, was really insisting on keeping it. So he was right.

Read the full interview for more details and stayed tuned to AusGamers for our review, which will be up as soon as possible.

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to speak with Raphael Colantonio, Co-creative Director at Arkane Studios, about Prey. I asked him directly about the lack of a PC demo, and whether people could infer a lack of confidence in the PC version as a result.

"It's just a resource assignment thing. We couldn't do a demo on both the console and on the PC, we had to choose. And besides, PC has Steam. Steam players can just return the game [prior to playing] 2 hours so it's like a demo already. I also want to clarify that there's no PC port. I keep on hearing 'oh they're going to screw up the PC port' there is no PC port. We do the game on PC. It's a PC game. It's a different engine to Dishonored as well. So we might have our own sets of problems, but we are of course very careful because of what happened with Dishonored 2. So we wanted to make sure the PC version of Prey is good."



"We have always developed our games on PC, we're PC developers. The thing on PC though, sometimes it's just the wrong timing. The drivers just came out at the same time as your game, or the hardware combinations out there are so numerous that we can't test absolutely everything and sometimes that's just what it is. Bad timing, bad luck. But we've worked on it a lot. I'm not saying there won't be any problem at all, but I'm pretty confident right now."

We'll have more from that interview coming later on, including more revelations. What do you think of Raph's answer? As someone who didn't have any issues with Dishonored 2 on PC I think it stands up, but I was very aware that people were having issues.

The opening hour demo for Prey has been release for PS4 and Xbox One which lets you play through the opening moments of the game. And in a cool move lets you continue to explore the Talos I space station once it's over. The demo will also give players access to a number of abilities that highlight Arkane Studios affinity for player freedom. Although a PC version of the demo isn't available, we do have the system requirements.

Which are:

Prey PC Specs

Minimum

CPU: Intel i5-2400, AMD FX-8320
GPU: GTX 660 2GB, AMD Radeon 7850 2GB
Memory: 8GB

Recommended

CPU: Intel i7-2600K, AMD FX-8350
GPU: GTX 970 4GB, AMD R9 290 4GB
Memory: 16GB

Also, ahead of the game's launch next Friday, pre-loading will commence this weekend.

Out May 5 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC, Arkane Studio's Prey is a first-person sci-fi action game that we've been talking up quite a bit on the site. And for good reason too, as its BioShock in Space vibe is a hard one to resist. Taking place on a large and luxurious space station called Talos I, where players will uncover a mysterious alien threat and all manner of secret experiments, the latest behind the scenes video gives a closer look at the size and scope of the environment.

Where, as is the case with a game like this, Talos I becomes a key character in the story.



A free Prey demo will be available on April 27 for PS4 and Xbox One that will let players experience the opening hour of the game.

Available April 27 for PS4 and Xbox One (yeah, looks like PC is getting the ol' skiperoo here), the free demo will let players experience the opening hour of the game as they take control of Morgan Yu and board the Talos I. And it wouldn't be a piece of Prey news without a new trailer, so there's one of those too. At this point I'm so ready to play this, that I'm more than willing to stick a needle in my eye.

That is, in the context of playing Prey. Because that's how you get fancy alien superpowers. And obtaining alien superpowers covers most, if not all, of my current 2017 bucket list.

Another day, another Prey gameplay trailer, this time highlighting what Arkane is best known for: offering up a series of open gameplay systems for players to stack, combine and use in their own unique and dynamic ways.

90-seconds of intense-looking combinations is what's in-store for you here, while the video also continues to show off the visual flair of the reimagined property from Dishonored developer, Arkane Studios. Check out the video embedded below.

You might be mankind’s last hope aboard Talos I, but you’ve got a mighty arsenal to face down the Typhon threat. Armed with your wits, weapons and a host of incredible powers, it’s up to you to stop the alien invasion and save all of humanity. Piece of cake!

With 24 human upgrades and 20 unique alien powers to choose from (plus all of their upgrades), no two Morgans will be the same, and no two players will have the same experiences in Prey.

Along with the human abilities like Hacking, Leverage, Repair, and Gunsmith – all of which enhance Morgan’s innate strengths – you will have access to three distinct trees of Typhon-based abilities. Of course, there’s some risk when rewarding yourself with these amazing alien abilities. As you install alien powers, the turrets on the station will view you as a hostile entity, and you will increasingly run the risk of being targeted and hunted by the massive Nightmare Typhon. But with (sometimes literally) mind-bending abilities like these, we’ve got to say the risk is definitely worth it.

Check out the full list of alien powers at Bethesda.net and start thinking about who your Morgan will be, and how you plan to fight the invasion and save the world.

By now you've probably seen enough on Bethesda and Arkane Studios' upcoming Prey to know if its the sort of game you'd play. For us, it's the mix of System Shock, BioShock, and the free-from nature of Dishonored in a sci-fi setting that's got us interested in it. Almost to an unhealthy degree. And the latest video drops hints that the choices you make not only in the story, but player progression, will shape the ending.

Stuff like helping out the other humans aboard Talos I and going all in on alien upgrades that will fundamentally change your humanity will factor into the multiple endings.



Prey is out May 5 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Or not, because this is pretty much chock full of spoilers. In that it showcases the story-driven introduction to the game and sets the scene for the System Shock style horror of being aboard a mostly derelict and alien-infested space station. But, if you're still on the fence about the new Prey from Bethesda and Arkane Studios this little snippet of gameplay gives you a good look at the tone and style of the game.

Which is to say that it seems to feature all the best bits of Dishonored, BioShock, and so forth, but in a futuristic setting. Which, should be more than enough to sell you on its potential.

One of the cool things about Prey and the story is that through experimentation humans are genetically given alien abilities. Like, being able to transform into regular everyday space objects and just chill. From being able to turn into a turret or even a coffee mug the latest Prey video, titled 'Mimic Madness', is a compilation of some truly bizarre space shenanigans.

We're talking apples, headphones, and a bag of space chips. Check it out.



On a side-note, the music in this video is taken from the game, and is an awesome slice of cosmic synthwave. Which, as all music fans know, is probably the best genre around. Well, a close second to house music.

We recently took Arkane Studios' reimagining of the Prey IP out for a space station spin and found, among some very awesome gameplay, that the game is definitely taking some great cues from some very, very great games, while also forging its own identity. And it's definitely something you want on your radar this year.

Here's a snippet from our time with the game (video preview incoming, too):

For fear of spoilers, because the game’s intro is very, very cool, I’ll leave out just how you begin your adventure, but I’d be remiss not to at least explain that Prey as a reimagined IP wears its heart(s) on its sleeve. This is very much a love letter to System Shock and BioShock, to Portal and even to Dead Space. It’s even a bit of a love letter to Arkane Studios itself, and the game’s intro heavily reflects the influence of the games mentioned above to a point where the BioShock influence is almost a bit *too* heavy. However, as with all Arkane products, the game very quickly comes into its own and the systems you realise you have at your disposal become the real launching point for your experience, and that experience is very much decided upon by you, the player, and just how you want to play Prey.

Click here for our in-depth Prey hands-on preview.

That's at least the vibe we're getting from Arkane Studios' reimagining of the Prey series, which look to capitalise on an empty, but terrorised space station with creepy crawlies, zero g and plenty of psychological stuff.

Obviously there's going to be a lot more to it, and we have someone on the ground over at QuakeCon who'll be reporting in with more in-depth coverage of the game, which was officially revealed at E3 earlier this year. And also, being compared to Dead Space isn't a bad thing anyway.

We also have a few new bits of info and some screens over at the newly created game page, but watch the new gameplay trailer embedded below and drop us your thoughts in the Comments on this new direction for the troubled series.