Prey

 PlayStation 4
User Score
8.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 1308 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,012 out of 1308
  2. Mixed: 155 out of 1308
  3. Negative: 141 out of 1308
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  1. Huwbutts
    May 6, 2017
    2
    Long-time, no-review. But I don't think people know what a good game is anymore.

    In short: this game is not fun. It failed to elicit even the tiniest bit of joy at any time. It is not without merit though: The Good: it doesn't hold your hand - no cutscenes, minimal tutorials. This is rare nowadays. However, the Bad: The combat is awful. And sadly, when this is the case, nothing    Long-time, no-review. But I don't think people know what a good game is anymore.

    In short: this game is not fun. It failed to elicit even the tiniest bit of joy at any time. It is not without merit though:

    The Good:
    it doesn't hold your hand - no cutscenes, minimal tutorials. This is rare nowadays.

    However, the Bad:
    The combat is awful. And sadly, when this is the case, nothing can save a game. Gunplay is sluggish and weightless. By comparison, even Fallout 3, say, was more satisfying.

    The enemies are poorly designed. I think this might be the biggest problem with the game. There is literally nothing less interesting to shoot than a nebulus gloop of black stink-lines. They do not react to hits, and soon had me groaning "uugh" when I saw another, instead of looking forward to another exciting encounter. The way they move does not make for fun battles, teleporting around with abandon, which instead of being thrilling and challenging, ends up just being frustrating. For instance, the whole AOE attack from Phantoms - come on, that only works in third-person games. The sounds they make do not seem to match their design. How this could have been fixed: ditch the teleporting, make the enemies more 'solid', with clearer hit animations, more enemies with less health.

    The space station has no character(s). The whole place is empty and hollow - while this might be intentional, the whole experience starts to feel soulless. YOU have no character, and there are no people to speak of/to. How this could have been fixed: have Morgan do frequent narration, even just reacting to a crazy event, for instance. ("What the hell?")

    The inventory system is messy. I applaud the game for trying to be a proper RPG, with you having to think carefully about resorce management. But to be honest, it goes too far, and had me loathing the times I knew I would have to craft something. How this could have been fixed: more ammo lying around, so at least crafting could be optional.

    In my opinion, if gameplay is naff, the game is naff. To this end - Prey is the opposite of Doom, which was literally run-and-gun-fun, which did not once have me thinking "I wish it had more RPG elements." This game has shed-loads of the latter, but had me wishing for Doom-like gunplay. At the end of the day, making yourself more powerful means nothing if you don't feel more powerful.

    There is no story to speak of.

    This is a very, very poor-man's version of Bioshock that might have stood up ten years ago, but is just not good enough for 2017. This is the least fun I've had playing a game for a long time.    … Expand
  2. Vl_cz
    May 5, 2017
    0
    The worst game of the year. Graphics - 2007, not 2017. Story - an endless gathering of notes and audio files. Music is a farting and set of annoying sounds. The gameplay is the destruction of the endless spam of monotonous enemies and crafting cubes.
    The game resembles a mixture of BioShock and System Shock. This game has no originality and is terribly boring.
  3. bhappenstance
    Sep 3, 2020
    0
    Incredibly frustrating. Definitely in the BioShock/Dishonored vein -- or trying pretty hard to be -- but with little sense of story or progression. Rather than a clear objective with alternative paths/optional objectives (as in Dishonored), Prey gives you dozens of objectives with no clear sense of where to go or why. Juggling items in your pack quickly becomes a chore (as you need toIncredibly frustrating. Definitely in the BioShock/Dishonored vein -- or trying pretty hard to be -- but with little sense of story or progression. Rather than a clear objective with alternative paths/optional objectives (as in Dishonored), Prey gives you dozens of objectives with no clear sense of where to go or why. Juggling items in your pack quickly becomes a chore (as you need to collect junk to recycle into reusable resources), and the game is constantly throwing locks and obstacles on everything, from doors to upgrades. The weapons are bland, the graphics are bland, the environments are bland. Clearly there was some desire to evoke BioShockesque environments, but that game imbues every area with purpose and personality, whereas Prey has a bunch of different spaces. The enemies are terrible, and combat is brutal and confusing. As many others here have noted, I really enjoyed Prey for the first few hours, and then the monotony and boredom and frustration set in. 20 hours in I felt like I was treading water, quit and never went back.… Expand
  4. Beppe
    Aug 16, 2020
    4
    Played for one hour, not my kind of game. It's included in PS Now collection, uninstalled after a try.
  5. dewdar
    Oct 8, 2017
    4
    I truly wished I could like this game, but every time the game find new ways to annoy.

    The game has been clearly influenced by developers previous work: bioshock and dishonored. It has great locations you want to explore more and more. The controls work great if you don't count the zero gravitation areas., and the weapons feel excellent. The presentation in the beginning is done right.    I truly wished I could like this game, but every time the game find new ways to annoy.

    The game has been clearly influenced by developers previous work: bioshock and dishonored. It has great locations you want to explore more and more. The controls work great if you don't count the zero gravitation areas., and the weapons feel excellent. The presentation in the beginning is done right. Crafting weapons, utilities and materials are something new and refreshing.

    Unfortunately that's all I can say. Story wise there is no character development, the game throws at you dialogs from characters that you almost never see and protagonist never responds to anything. The game mechanics get very quickly repetitive and the ones you fight against look almost the same. The mini games like hacking is laughable. The game has also some technical problems as well which would take another whole chapter to cover. For a game that forces you to go from one area to another get ready for the loading screens most of your game time.

    After 20+ hours I got bored, I couldn't take it anymore. I was playing the game hoping something would eventually change, but it's the same thing from the beginning. Like MGS5 the game throws at you repetitive mission and exposition that you supposed to care about. and does not reward you at the end.

    It did not deliver what I was expecting, game and technical wise. The whole build up for the secret reveal in the end I just watched on Youtube, and it wasn't satisfying.    … Expand
  6. carnycloud
    May 19, 2017
    1
    I have to say the first 5 hours of the game I really liked. Getting my first gun, getting my first alien power, both awesome, after that the game just got repetitive, and wtf was with the sound? Not the music that's another topic, but the cut scenes along with the loud, over the top, noise was just annoying. I don't even know what the cut scenes added to the game... The ending wasI have to say the first 5 hours of the game I really liked. Getting my first gun, getting my first alien power, both awesome, after that the game just got repetitive, and wtf was with the sound? Not the music that's another topic, but the cut scenes along with the loud, over the top, noise was just annoying. I don't even know what the cut scenes added to the game... The ending was disappointing. This one I tried to like but just couldn't...… Expand
  7. Ianmatten
    May 8, 2017
    1
    After all the hate Mass Effect Andromeda got, this gets rave reviews! I must be existing on a different planet as this game is boring me to tears, the graphics are extremely dated and the black blobs are about as scary as jelly and ice cream! This is a blatant copy paste of a combination of Dead Space and Bioshock and not in the same league as those two gems. I honestly am not gettingAfter all the hate Mass Effect Andromeda got, this gets rave reviews! I must be existing on a different planet as this game is boring me to tears, the graphics are extremely dated and the black blobs are about as scary as jelly and ice cream! This is a blatant copy paste of a combination of Dead Space and Bioshock and not in the same league as those two gems. I honestly am not getting 'it'!! Andromeda gets slated for facial animations but this entire game looks like it was made with different textured squares, and the creature design is just not scary at all!!… Expand
  8. DLJames
    Jun 29, 2020
    1
    Why do people like this game? Its mediocre at best, unplayable at worst. Why are there so few fabricators? It breaks the game not having these. Others must have played on easy cause on normal this is broke.
  9. GCM707
    May 6, 2017
    3
    Disappointing. I loved the orignal Prey back in the xbox 360 days. This game so far has been quite boring, enemies are not interesting. Typical Bethesda jank, I should have known better.
  10. Tionik06
    Dec 18, 2019
    4
    Looks pretty, being in space has neat controls, the rest is masochistic trash. Scurrying for resources check, limited inventory check, next to no ammo check, bad enemies check, bad spatial sound where stealth is crucial check. This is not an improvement at all over original prey. This is like putting your privates in a vice grip and I've got 2k hours into warframe.
  11. True_Reclaimer
    May 13, 2017
    0
    Guns are useless. Chipsets are useless. Stealth is useless. Peeking is useless. Turrets are EXTREMELY useless. And every ability other than Mindjack is useless. Seriously who thought it was a good idea to be able to mind control every enemy in the game for a minute with no cooldown? And its what 2032 and turrets cannot bolt themselves in place? One sneeze and the damn thing falls over.Guns are useless. Chipsets are useless. Stealth is useless. Peeking is useless. Turrets are EXTREMELY useless. And every ability other than Mindjack is useless. Seriously who thought it was a good idea to be able to mind control every enemy in the game for a minute with no cooldown? And its what 2032 and turrets cannot bolt themselves in place? One sneeze and the damn thing falls over. Theres no reason to kill any enemies since theres no Exp system AND they respawn as soon as you hit a load screen, so its best to just skip past everything because killing the same 5 boring AIs and wasting precious ammo on your nerf guns is pointless.

    Overall this game is sometimes fun, but theres not much more content that wasnt already seen in the free demo. Prey has no interaction or ingenuity that other games like Bioshock and System Shock offer. Prey feels like its trying too hard to NOT be Prey (which is about an Indian killing alien invaders in unique environments that defy gravity and physics) and instead be a cheap ripoff of the other 2 mentioned games. Classic Bethesda bugs and low quality design is to be expected on par with Failout 4.

    Not worth your money or time.    … Expand
  12. killingMustache
    May 11, 2017
    1
    Bad graphics, a lot of game breaking bugs, problems with sounds, all the enemies looks the same (bullet sponged black blobs – designed by 10 years old kid?). This game is worst disappointment than Mass Effect Andromeda. It's a crap, don't buy it!
  13. Attorney2016
    May 6, 2017
    0
    Thoroughly disappointed with this game. Graphics are below average. Facial animation resembles stroke rather than speech. Combat is boring-you basically get a wrench (nod to Half Life) and some sort of a freezing gun. Enemies (some sort of alien form) attack in large groups and kill you in a few strikes (even on medium difficulty level), and move way too fast to use firearms. It lacks theThoroughly disappointed with this game. Graphics are below average. Facial animation resembles stroke rather than speech. Combat is boring-you basically get a wrench (nod to Half Life) and some sort of a freezing gun. Enemies (some sort of alien form) attack in large groups and kill you in a few strikes (even on medium difficulty level), and move way too fast to use firearms. It lacks the atmosphere, after half hour you sort of get used to mimics jumping out of nowhere (I guess this is meant to be the horror element but it does not deliver to the slightest). Stealth is virtually impossible. The plot lacks novelty. I would not bother buying this.… Expand
  14. Tauren40k
    Jul 21, 2020
    0
    Любители виртуальных парков развлечений, типа фортнайт или farCry5, игру не оценили, да и ладно. Одна из немногих игр с погружением, которая зацепила. После неё, постоянно возникал вопрос: "Почему такое управление не сделали в DeadSpace?". Отличная история, которая подаётся через окружение, где даже чтение электронных писем не раздражает. Постоянно ощущение загадки на огромной станции,Любители виртуальных парков развлечений, типа фортнайт или farCry5, игру не оценили, да и ладно. Одна из немногих игр с погружением, которая зацепила. После неё, постоянно возникал вопрос: "Почему такое управление не сделали в DeadSpace?". Отличная история, которая подаётся через окружение, где даже чтение электронных писем не раздражает. Постоянно ощущение загадки на огромной станции, заставляют радостно потирать руки.… Expand
  15. kenmil
    May 11, 2017
    2
    The demo was great - it saved me from spending money on this piece of garbage. It reminds me of a game created for a high school project, with its outdated graphics, bland enemies and feeble, unoriginal story. Do yourself a favour and play the demo before spending any money on this.
  16. il_fenomeno
    Sep 22, 2017
    0
    I own PS4 since January 2017, played about 25 games so far, I play everything but with a 100% I can say this is the worst game I've ever played since 1990 and worst 20$ spent ever on a game, I think if i take all those games in 20 years and this one I didnt load so many times. Awful graphic, non-interesteing story, stupid combat and controls, boring enemies, boriiiing loading times betweenI own PS4 since January 2017, played about 25 games so far, I play everything but with a 100% I can say this is the worst game I've ever played since 1990 and worst 20$ spent ever on a game, I think if i take all those games in 20 years and this one I didnt load so many times. Awful graphic, non-interesteing story, stupid combat and controls, boring enemies, boriiiing loading times between some parts in a levels, and AIM with R3 then zoom lol wtf??? i expected better game then Dishonored 2 but its not even close. Believe me I love games but this one is a total total fail. Story is totally stupid its about ill give u glue gun and wrench later gun and shotgun with some bullets u go fight against aliens with electricity, fire and I dont know what else and between that ill lock 90% doors lol wtf, in some parts u must go outside the station and theres no gravity my God wtf u barely can orientate and see where u need 2 go. Really the worst and most annoying game ever wanted to stop playing after 2 hours but continued in a hope something will change but nothing now im on 10hrs and hope this bulls*** will end soon.… Expand
  17. CuttlefishJones
    May 30, 2017
    2
    Given that this came from the same studio that gave us the Dishonored series it's hard to imagine what they were thinking. They seem to have taken all their best ideas and binned them, leaving only the repetitive, frustrating, and boring dross for this 'game'. The maps are poorly designed with a marker system that leaves a lot to be desired; combat is clunky and simply frustrating. At noGiven that this came from the same studio that gave us the Dishonored series it's hard to imagine what they were thinking. They seem to have taken all their best ideas and binned them, leaving only the repetitive, frustrating, and boring dross for this 'game'. The maps are poorly designed with a marker system that leaves a lot to be desired; combat is clunky and simply frustrating. At no time in this 'game' do you feel like you've actually made any progress. The original Prey was a quirky, interesting, and fun to play experience. This Prey is a frustratingly boring chore whose sole reason for existing would seem to be to show that Arkane can also produce crap when they want to. This is by far my worst game of this generation and definitely wasn't worth the money and time I put into it.… Expand
  18. slavalist
    May 9, 2017
    0
    After 18 hours of the game, problems with save and location started, and I could not complete the game to the end, thanks to Arkane for the time spent on your "excellent" game
  19. SiltyDoubloon
    Jun 5, 2017
    0
    Prey save bug deleted my 11 hours gameplay progression .. Couldn't be arsed to try it again .. when you are a multi million dollar publisher and charging AAA prices for a AA game, this kind of **** is unacceptable ...

    Also, this is a blatant bioshock copy with no new features apart from your slow ass character and **** story ... seriously Bethesda .... screw you guys
  20. SteveVicious
    May 26, 2017
    1
    It's nothing like the first Prey that was a masterpiece. Now this is one of the most boring game i ever played not only it lags on the ps pro but the story is non existent, the gunplay is lame and frustrating, the enemies are dull and un interesting, and there is not a single npc on the entire space station you can interact with. I grew up playing half life and deus ex and i can't believeIt's nothing like the first Prey that was a masterpiece. Now this is one of the most boring game i ever played not only it lags on the ps pro but the story is non existent, the gunplay is lame and frustrating, the enemies are dull and un interesting, and there is not a single npc on the entire space station you can interact with. I grew up playing half life and deus ex and i can't believe how much disappointment this game is to me.… Expand
  21. brat1111
    Sep 21, 2017
    3
    My greatest challenge in this game is figuring out where to go... The mission markers are so messed up. Why is finding my way such a project? The game was fun for me the first hours but now it's just annoying, and ''enhanced for ps4 pro''??
    Come on, the graphics are horrible and it does not really feel smooth to play this overall boring game. That being said, the looting is fun and the    My greatest challenge in this game is figuring out where to go... The mission markers are so messed up. Why is finding my way such a project? The game was fun for me the first hours but now it's just annoying, and ''enhanced for ps4 pro''??
    Come on, the graphics are horrible and it does not really feel smooth to play this overall boring game. That being said, the looting is fun and the story is cool ( the beginning anyways )... My advice is to skip this game.    … Expand
  22. TatsMcGee
    Sep 8, 2018
    4
    On paper, this game seemed like a game that I would absolutely love. The story seemed dark and a little disturbing but without being an over the top “edgelord” game. It’s a first-person shooter which is one of my favorite Genres and it has Bethesda’s name on it. I like Bethesda.

    What I didn’t realize at the time and that’s completely on me is, its made by the people who made Dishonored.    On paper, this game seemed like a game that I would absolutely love. The story seemed dark and a little disturbing but without being an over the top “edgelord” game. It’s a first-person shooter which is one of my favorite Genres and it has Bethesda’s name on it. I like Bethesda.

    What I didn’t realize at the time and that’s completely on me is, its made by the people who made Dishonored. So even though it is a first-person shooter, it’s not really run and gun. That’s the type of shooters that I like, just mindlessly running around, killing enemies and blowing **** up. I don’t want to have to be patient, smart and methodical.

    So after a couple hours of playing the game, it just felt like more Dishonored and I just don’t have a ton of interest in those games. I don’t want to bash the game but it just wasn’t for me. I think when Wolfenstein comes out in October, that will be much more up my alley.    … Expand
  23. CanadianYeti
    Jul 17, 2017
    3
    If I had to sum up my entire experience with the game in one word, it’d be “frustrating”. Everything about this game seems designed to make you feel as angry as possible, from the meatshield enemies that are necessary to fight just so you can progress to the resources so limited that Silent Hill would call them out on it to the fact that the game’s much touted “play your way” system fallsIf I had to sum up my entire experience with the game in one word, it’d be “frustrating”. Everything about this game seems designed to make you feel as angry as possible, from the meatshield enemies that are necessary to fight just so you can progress to the resources so limited that Silent Hill would call them out on it to the fact that the game’s much touted “play your way” system falls completely flat once you realize that you literally can build your character wrong and will have to restart the entire adventure just so you can keep progressing.… Expand
  24. danelectroman
    Jul 28, 2017
    1
    Right, this was a game for, dare I say,, Nerds. Is there any other reason a dweek programer would insist on sending somebody in an antigravity tunnel environment only to find an unlockable portal, with very few clues except in one instance, stop a fan with "goo," I say STRONGLY NOT RECOMMENDED! There was enough meat to keep me going a couple days, but this was a major Bethesda Failure, aRight, this was a game for, dare I say,, Nerds. Is there any other reason a dweek programer would insist on sending somebody in an antigravity tunnel environment only to find an unlockable portal, with very few clues except in one instance, stop a fan with "goo," I say STRONGLY NOT RECOMMENDED! There was enough meat to keep me going a couple days, but this was a major Bethesda Failure, a company I believed had potential.… Expand
  25. DavLai3
    Mar 26, 2018
    1
    Story and world are interesting but terrible controls and first person platforming/shooting are horrendous. Really gave this a honest shot but 10 hours in I don't have the patience to finish. Not a very enjoyable gameplay experience.
  26. Virtualreview
    Nov 14, 2019
    4
    One of the 3 best games of 2017. Very intense setting. Intriguing story, and awesome game mechanics, that tempts u for a 2nd playthru. Best game of arkane so far. Hope prey 2 is in the making!
  27. Wiezzel
    Jul 19, 2023
    1
    ok game.
    Over rated by people.
    It is full of glitches and icky stuff, just does not feel right to play. Difficulties are a joke. I played on hardest with survival boxes checked. The game felt boring and easy You will have an overwhelming amount of resources. WHich what you can craft an overwhelming amount of AMMO. Enemies are very limited and all easy to take down. The most annoying    ok game.
    Over rated by people.
    It is full of glitches and icky stuff, just does not feel right to play.
    Difficulties are a joke. I played on hardest with survival boxes checked. The game felt boring and easy
    You will have an overwhelming amount of resources.
    WHich what you can craft an overwhelming amount of AMMO.
    Enemies are very limited and all easy to take down.
    The most annoying are repeated and the hardest ones are easy escapable. ( you can ignore events)

    This game does not offer anything special or particular about games.
    If you have NEVER EVER played a game in your life and really could not care for a story, this is "maybe" for you    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

72
#72 Best PS4 Game of 2017
26
#26 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2017
11
#11 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 68 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 55 out of 68
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 68
  3. Negative: 0 out of 68
  1. Playstation Official Magazine Australia
    Jul 7, 2017
    90
    This is one of the cleverest games we’ve ever played. It constantly wows with many multiple solutions to almost every problem. If you have a talent for thinking outside the box, chances are Arkane is three steps ahead and ready to accommodate your lunacy. [July 2017, p66]
  2. Playstation Official Magazine UK
    Jun 24, 2017
    80
    While not the masterpiece it could have been, this imaginative, immersive sim provides an impressive, dense sandbox with plenty of exciting toys to play with. [July 2016, p.93]
  3. Games Master UK
    Jun 22, 2017
    78
    Harsh difficulty mars an otherwise engrossing sci-fi journey in a fascinating setting. [July 2017, p.76]
See all critic reviews »