In PREY you play as a Tommy, a Cherokee who does not appreciate his heritage and wants to get out of the reservation he and his girlfriend Jen live in so he can marry her. Tommy gets agitated with two guys in the bar and beats them with his wrench which is used throughout the game. It is stormy outside; the news comes on and reports sightings of UFO’s in the sky. All of a sudden the lights go off and the ceiling falls down. As they say “They are not coming… they are already here.“ The UFO’s lights are shot, bringing Tommy, his girlfriend, and his grandfather in where they end up being tied up, only to be helped by a mysterious stranger who frees Tommy and starts his journey to save his girlfriend Jen and escape the place.

The story line keeps you interested because of its suspense. It makes you actually care for the characters. It also fuels your desire to find out what happens next which forces you to keep playing. PREY consists of a first-person shooter and puzzle elements which are perfectly blended together. It is not for the weak of stomach as it has a lot of gore and deserves the mature rating. PREY is intended to be scary, and at times it can be.

Tommy starts off with his wrench but as the game progresses he becomes equipped with more powerful weapons, all having a secondary ability. Ammo for the weapons is found throughout the levels, although sometimes you do run out.

Not far into the story… Tommy is taught the “ways of the ancients” and has to ability to leave his body and enter the “spirit walk” in which he has a bow and can walk through energy barriers. You are only able to shoot the bow in the spirit form if you have enough spirit energy…. Spirit energy it obtained from beaten enemies.

The puzzle portion of the PREY mostly consists of the switching to and from the spirit form, but it does not get old as the puzzles are not too hard or too easy. Another twist in the game is that you can walk on ceilings and walls. You fight enemies not only on your level, but on ceilings and walls adding a nice touch to the game. It is easy to get confused with the ceiling and wall walking and the portals which can be found in boxes and other places, but it is this that makes the game fun and enjoyable because it is something not done in many if any games. To help you with the puzzles and enemies is your bird that translates signs and even distracts enemies. To add variety PREY also has two different flying vehicles, one is used only once.

The biggest problem with the gameplay of PREY is its difficulty. It is too short and too easy. Even though the game has two difficulties, t is too easy as you cannot die. When you die you are brought to a place where you have a minute to shoot down flying birds that restore your health and then you are brought back close to where you left off. The bosses don’t even restore health when you die. It is almost impossible not to beat this game. The enemies are way too easy as well, as are the three bosses in the game. PREY is simply just too short and easy of a game.

PREY’s graphics are amazing even when not played on HDTV. The game has enormous levels with whole planets you can walk around with only one loading screen per level. You can read every sign and letter in the game, even the ones written in blood. The characters look very realistic. Even though the game is played in a very dark environment, the beautiful graphics are still evident, even more so when you turn on the lighter that Tommy carries to illuminate the beauty of the game.

The controls are responsive and are logical making it easy to play. One problem that I saw was that you had to shuffle through a lot of weapons to get to the one you want. The sound is amazing and the voice acting is one of the best I’ve seen in any game. The music also goes along with what the experience is in the game.

That brings me to another rare disappointment with the game; the online play. There are only two game types Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch. It has a leader board and ranked matches but the matches are almost always very laggy to the point where it can become impossible to play. Many people just get on to get the multiplayer achievements, although there are still not many people playing. With the mediocre online play this game doesn’t have much replay value although if you forget the story line you will probably want to come back and play it in the hardest difficulty.