I played on Hard and didn’t really have much difficulty. Did you take the Typhon “bomb” ability - the very first one Alex tells you to get? It’s quite powerful, especially if you upgrade it. Ammo was scarce, but I never ever made any. I made Neuromods almost exclusively. I used the wrench and Typhon powers enough that the little ammo I found was sufficient for when I needed to use guns.
It is really interesting to hear how you struggle. I wish I could see you play. Are you using vents or roundabout ways to avoid enemies? I almost never fought any enemies until mid game. And I did not use any powers either. Just always sneak, keep out of sight and look for places where the gloo gun will let you get access too. Otherwise I really have no clue why you are struggling. I have never been engaged when I did not want to be except a few mimics here and there and running and hiding is always an option as well.
Same here. I played on nightmare and my experience was like night and day compared to yours. It was manageable at the start and downright easy when I finished the game. I only played with human powers fwiw.
One thing I’d recommend is to get the recycler power asap and then do the quests related to the fabricating plans for neuromods - once you get that you can quickly make a few until a follow up quest pops up - this one’s a little harder but if you manage to do it you’re set. I probably made about 40 neuromods in my run, maybe more. Ended up maxing the entire human tree by the time I was done.
As for dealing with difficulty - firearms I and II, stealth attacks, weapon upgrades, combat focus - these skills make the game significantly easier. You’ll kill enemies faster and save a ton of ammo in the process.
Other than that - are you playing with a gamepad or a mouse?
Raf Colantonio has left Arkane. Recently, he was in charge of Prey with Harvey Smith handling Dishonored in Lyon, but Smith recently moved back to Austin while the team in France were working on the Dishonored standalone title.
The last 18 years have been an amazing adventure - from starting Arkane in 1999, to making our first game, Arx Fatalis, to joining ZeniMax Media in 2010 and releasing the Dishonored series and Prey to critical acclaim - it is time for me to step out to spend some time with my son and reflect on what is important to me and my future.
I’ve had the opportunity to work with some of the best and brightest people in the industry, and I feel extremely lucky to have been part of this journey with everyone at Arkane.
I’ve lived many magical moments. I’ve also been through the hard times. But, I can say that joining ZeniMax took things to the next level and gave Arkane the opportunity to emerge as a world-class studio. ZenIMax enabled us to make the best games that we’ve ever made. And I know there is even more to come.
ZeniMax strongly believes in Arkane’s ability to make great games, and is committed to supporting the studio. My long-time friend and colleague, Harvey Smith, will oversee the team in Austin and I will be around for as long as necessary to ensure a smooth transition to the new management team in Lyon.
I wish the best to everyone at Arkane, Bethesda, and ZeniMax. Without a doubt I will miss everyone.
As I close, I’d like to thank the Arkane fans for their passion and support. I proudly join them as Arkane Studios’ biggest champion, and I look forward to playing the extraordinary new games the studio is working on.
-Raf Colantonio
Probably a Destiny clone
@robc04 had sent me a Steam message asking for my impressions of Prey (looooong after I’d gone to bed for the night, you crazy bastard :P) so I thought I’d put them here for him as well as others that may also be on the fence. Spoiler free is my intention; let me know if you feel like there is anything that should be blurred out and I’ll happily comply.
To start at the top, it’s real good. I am just loving the immersion of wandering around this game’s world and exploring the backstory via emails, recorded audio logs, and other (often clever) bits of info you can find. It’s got a really nice blend of BioShock, System Shock, Dues Ex, and other games that have done this stuff in that regard, and it does it at least as well as those games, with really, honestly, interesting stuff to pick up on. Great setting, great characters, actually intriguing tale so far.
The “RPG” mechanics are very System Shock or Dues Ex HR here, and I mean that in the best possible way. If I’d seen screens like these at any point before it came out it would have been a day one purchase for me. I’m a sucker for stuff like this.
And that’s just the start of it - there are lots more ways to upgrade your character and many and more options for traversal and engagement with enemies. The open nature of the maps is a really well done, some things I thought would work as I tried to “cheese” the system only to find out the “system” was a lot more pliable than I had assumed. Such as a nasty enemy I tried to juke around to get at whatever it might be guarding only to have it actually hunt me down for several terrifying minutes in another part of the level. Thankfully it finally gave up and wandered back to where I found it. Just amazing. So far (and I’m honestly only a few hours in - maybe 3 or so) there has been a wider variety of enemies than I expected, too, and they are all very deadly and entertaining. And creepy.
The game is pretty tense. I’m making my way slowly, doing a lot of back tracking because on Normal difficulty I feel like my choices really matter, in terms of how I’m spending my precious skill points I get my hands on, as well as finding as many resources as I can. And how good I am at aiming because man, some of these enemies move quick and bullets seem like precious gems so far. But I’m digging it, it feels right, and every time I boot the game up (please, for the love of God, take the time to rename the start up videos in your game folder to .bak - there are guides around on which 4 files to rename - un-skippable opening videos should be punishable offenses) I just love being in this world. It’s also a real purdy game, too.
Some other aspects I really think are neat include crafting - normally I don’t really click with crafting in games, but I dig the way it’s handled here so far, with blue prints you find to build off of and recycle machines to generate materials from the junk you’ve collected. Additionally, I am a huge fan of numbers being in games, and I really appreciate that my weapons have stats and that I can see how much damage I inflict when I attack something. Every time I play a new mechanic is layered into the game, and it’s a delight just how they are handling that stuff. The tutorial pop-up windows are really gorgeous and informative, for instance.
I only paid $39 for it from the Steam sale, but honestly if I’d paid full price I wouldn’t have thought much about it based on what I’ve seen. It’s a big game (HowLongToBead indicates a bare minimum of 16 hours with 26 being closer to accurate for doing all the side quests as well, and I suspect I’ll hit the low 20’s as I tend to do with stuff like this) and it seems like it would also be fun to play through a second time. Lots of value if it can keep up this level of polish and keep me this entertained.
If someone enjoys titles such as BioShock, Dues Ex, System Shock, and et al. I can’t really recommend this experience enough. So far, early days yet to be fair, but so far it’s really just as good as those titles, and some of the mechanics are done best here from what I can tell.
Thanks Scott! I don’t know how I missed that you replied in this thread. I didn’t even see one of those notifications - aww crap, I had somehow marked this thread muted! I don’t know when or why, it must have been an accident. It sounds really good. I think I like and dislike some of the same things you do in games like these. I’m normally not a crafting person, so it’s good to hear that you think it is well done.
My main concern I guess is that I think I’ve heard that the enemies get repetitive, but maybe that won’t be an issue.
This sounds like it should be pretty high on my list - ahead of Shadow Warrior 2, Mass Effect Andromeda. Have you played Nier Automata and / or The Surge? Those 2 are probably my other main contenders.
I have not, but they are both on my list of games I want to play. However, neither of them grabbed me watching gameplay videos like Prey, but I also just can’t get enough of stuff like BioShock or Dues Ex. The Surge I like as a Sci-fi Dark Souls but I also don’t feel moved too much whenever I watched some gameplay footage leading up to release, and it’s reviews (on average) seem to lend to my impressions (low 70’s, good but not great). With my limited time and budget, I am playing Great games, not “good” games. :)
Nier does seem super awesome though, but given the choice between “methodical exploration RPG” vs. “third person action game” I’m going Prey 9 times out of 10. It looks very “Devil May Cry” slash “Bayonnetta” to me, and those games are fun but never my “favorite”.
I think I’m sold. Your logic makes too much sense :-)
Also, this looks more what I think I was hoping Alien Isolation to be. I found Alien Isolation’s hiding / stealth system to be waaaaay to frustrating and finicky to be enjoyable.
That could very well be!
I am liking the game, although I wish recyclers were more common. I have my suit almost fully upgraded and I still find myself running back to a previous level to recycle stuff every now and then. I also think ammo should cost 1 less metal, its not very well balanced. A turret costs 3 metal, but 30 bullets or 12 shotgun shells also cost 3 metal?
What are your favorite powers so far? I like the disrupt power (I forget its name, but its the one that is really good against the aliens) and the bullet time power. I have picked up a number of other powers, but I rarely use those. I have only 1 in hacking and 2 in repair (because it was cheaper to craft 2 neuromods instead of 2 turrets for a certain mission).
I am not sure at what point to stop the main story and start going back for side-missions.
There’s some backtracking in both the main and various sideuquests but for the most part, I just did sidequests as I did the main quest all along as I moved through the different areas.
I tried that early on, but it seemed that a lot of areas were inaccessible or just far to difficult. For example, in the green house area there are some people trapped who are possessed or something. I could not figure out how to get into the building they were in other than using a lot of glue to make a path to the roof, at which point I was nearly one shot.
Then there were just a lot of locked doors. Now that I am higher level, I may want to go back, but I am not sure at what point to do so. There is some mention of a some kind of special gun, for which I have stacks of ammo for, but so far I have not found. Maybe after I find that, ill ignore the main story line.
I haven’t made it far yet, I’ve been reading everything I find. I do have to say what I’ve seen so far has grabbed me a lot. I also have the urge to go upstairs and smash some things in my kitchen cabinet.
@Scotch_Lufkin, have you still been finding normal difficulty good?
Yeah, 5 or so hours in and Normal seems like a good bit of challenge but not impossible. Some enemies I faced early on I was clearly out matched, but I was also clearly in optional areas not on the beaten path. I feel like the main story is important as every time I make it to another layer of the main story, I unlock a new gameplay mechanic that really mixes things up in a great way. And since some enemies that seemed terrifying before are now “manageable if I know they are coming” normal feels about right so far. Once I start getting deeper into the game if I change my mind I can see myself dropping down to easy, but at this point I don’t feel that’s likely.
Got my first neuromod. Always so hard to decide where to spend upgrade points in games like this. So often I go more health, but I think I’ll try to be more interesting this time. Well, I don’t always go health. If there are upgrades that let me open up more dialog options or be able to get to more areas I like to choose those.
This game is all about exploration. That will find you many key codes and/or alternate ways into places. I thoroughly explored each area as I went along the main quest. Oftentimes an area that was locked opened up after I did some exploring an found another route or a key code. I’ve generally only had to back track when I got a quest that took me back. I would just recommend really exploring each area as you arrive. You will often find new quests, new areas and goodies scattered all around.
I often go for inventory space, and I did this time too. Handy, given you’ll want to be picking up as much as possible and minimize trips to the recycler. Anything that boosts the resources you get is good. Also repair can let you fix recyclers and turrets. Generally you’ll end up putting at least 1 in most things.
I just did the reboot the reactor part. I think Ill now go do side mission from this point on. I still have not found the q-gun though. I did google it and apparently you need repair II to get it.