| Prey | |
|---|---|
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| Developer(s) | Arkane Austin |
| Publisher(s) | Bethesda Softworks |
| Director(s) | Raphaël Colantonio |
| Producer(s) | Susan Kath |
| Designer(s) | Ricardo Bare |
| Programmer(s) | Stevan Hird |
| Writer(s) |
|
| Composer(s) | Mick Gordon |
| Engine | CryEngine Unreal Engine 4 (Typhon Hunter) |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release | May 5, 2017 |
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Prey is a 2017 first-person shooter video game developed by Arkane Austin and published by Bethesda Softworks. The game was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on May 5, 2017.
Prey takes place in an alternate timeline in which an accelerated Space Race resulted in mankind taking to orbital stations far earlier. The player controls Morgan Yu while exploring the space station Talos I, in orbit around Earth–Moon L2, where they were part of a scientific team researching the Typhon, a hostile alien force composed of many forms with both physical and psychic powers, such as shapeshifting into a clone of any inanimate object. As the Typhon escape confinement, the player uses a variety of weapons and abilities, some of which are derived from the Typhon themselves, to survive while looking to escape the station. The player gains access to areas of Talos I by acquiring key items and abilities, eventually allowing the player to explore the station in an open world setting. The game combines elements of first-person shooters, role-playing video games, stealth games, and Metroidvanias in its design.
Arkane's Prey is largely unrelated to the 2006 game Prey developed by Human Head Studios. While Prey 2, a sequel to the 2006 game, had been planned by Human Head, it fell into development hell following the transfer of the intellectual property from 3D Realms to Bethesda Softworks, and was eventually canceled in 2014. Arkane's game does not use any of the planned sequel's assets and only incorporates the previous game's name and the broad theme of the protagonist being hunted by aliens. Arkane built Prey as a spiritual sequel to System Shock, providing the player with several potential means of progressing within the game while considering the Talos I station a thematic reinterpretation of the underground dungeon of their first game, Arx Fatalis.
Prey received positive reviews from critics and is considered one of the best games of 2017 by several gaming magazines and websites. Two expansions were released: Mooncrash, a procedurally-generated mode inspired by various roguelike games, and a multiplayer Typhon Hunter that incorporates the Typhon shapeshifting abilities in a hide-and-seek style game.