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E3 2011: Prey 2

Human Head Studios looks to reinvent the Prey series in Prey 2, published by Bethesda Softworks.

June 10, 2011 11:00 AM

QUICKTAKE: Human Head Studios tries to reinvent the Prey series with Prey 2. Now being published by Bethesda, Prey 2 shifts the focus towards bounty hunting and interacting with a world filled with shady and mostly-violent aliens. It may resemble Prey to some, but this upcoming shooter looks to be doing something fresh, placing players in the role of a new protagonist. THE DEMO: U.S. Marshal Killian Samuels was on a passenger flight that has crash-landed onto the Sphere; the alien ship featured in the original Prey. After getting knocked out by some hostile aliens, Samuels wakes on the alien world of Exodus with with no memory of his abduction. The only thing he now knows for certain is that he is a bounty hunter. The demo sees Samuels hunt down several aliens and collect bounties, showing off different methods of capturing aliens-on-the-run. The demo ends with Samuels paying the price for collecting a certain bounty, as he is confronted by a giant alien boss. DETAILS: Human Head has stated that their mission for Prey 2 is to convey a sense of one player versus the world. While Prey is the title of the series, the team's concept was to make Samuels into a great predator. To accomplish this, Samuels is equipped with several different weapons and a badass reputation. One of the most important items in Samuels’ inventory is the scanner, which highlights various points of interest. While none of Exodus’ aliens are innocent, hostile aliens will appear highlighted in red, while characters of interest will be highlighted yellow. Prey 2 is an open-world adventure, in which the player can run through missions and side bounties in practically any order. Using the scanner, the player can identify any alien with a bounty on his head. Players can also find direction by using the Bounty Wire, a comprehensive menu filled with available story-based missions and side bounties. AI reaction is a key element of Prey 2. Human Head addresses a curious convention of FPS titles: protagonists constantly keeping their weapon out of its holster. Samuels’ weapon must be taken out manually and NPC's will all react if Samuels takes out his weapon at any point. For example, an informant offered to sell an essential piece of information for $2000. Rather than bend to the terms, Samuels took out his weapon and shot the informant's friend, causing him to reconsider his asking price. Taking a hostage is also an option when going into a mission, but enemies will react differently to hostage situations. In one instance, Samuels took a lieutenant hostage in an effort to lure out a bounty. Enemies simply responded by casually blasting the lieutenant’s head off before taking aim at Samuels.

Prey 2 puts players in the shoes of the predator--a bounty hunter on an alien world.

Players are presented several different methods of capturing bounties. Some bounties will come with "dead or alive" directives, but others will strictly order for one or the other. The bounties encountered during the demo all attempted to run, leading to several exciting chase sequences. Samuels has the ability to vault over objects, slide underneath tight spaces, and quickly jump across ledges. Players can also opt to accept bribes from captured bounties; however, the Human Head rep warned that double-crossing a client would lead to consequences. Finally, Human Head hasn't forgotten about original Prey protagonist Tommy Tawodi. The Human Head rep noted that Samuels will cross paths with Tommy in the middle of his adventure, shattering his belief that he is Exodus' only living human and tying this game’s story with the original Prey. I was left impressed by the Prey 2 demo, particularly with the vast freedom of choice scenarios. I love that there are multiple ways to play through the game and several different methods to collect bounties. It's a new direction for Prey and it looks to be a positive one. Watch the Shacknews E3 2011 page to follow all our coverage of this year's show. You can also subscribe to it with your favorite RSS reader.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?

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June 10, 2011 11:00 AM

Ozzie Mejia posted a new article, E3 2011: Prey 2.

Human Head Studios looks to reinvent the Prey series in Prey 2, published by Bethesda Softworks.
- dantastic
  
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  June 10, 2011 11:16 AM
  
  wow, sign me the fuck up after having no interest at all. i know it's all a video but i like the concept. although it seems weird that they'd need the Prey franchise to do this game.
  - Conan
    
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    June 10, 2011 11:18 AM
    
    From other interviews, it sounds like Tommy will still be playing a part somehow in the game, they're just not saying what the other connections to the first are right now.
    - Thund3rball
      
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      June 10, 2011 12:23 PM
      
      This is my thinking. And if that is true than that is badass. It would be really cool if they left it all up to us to discover it imo rather than in some press release detailing how Tommy fits into it.
    - dantastic
      
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      June 10, 2011 12:43 PM
      
      from this article, you meet tommy in passing. i guess we'll have to play the game to see if it's a pointless cameo or not.
      - TaintedSyringe
        
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        June 10, 2011 1:10 PM
        
        I hope there's a bounty on Tommy's head, and you have to collect it.
      - uglysad
        
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        June 10, 2011 2:17 PM
        
        An interview I saw on G4 (I think) implied it would be more than just a cameo
    - a sandwich
      
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      June 10, 2011 2:26 PM
      
      The problem with previews is that it's hard not to imagine that everything that comes out of their mouth is a combination of lies and wishful thinking, and then when the game comes out the only reason you can tell Sin Episodes was set in the Commander Keen universe at all was the dopefish chilling out under the dock.
      
      And it's not even really a bad thing that all previews blow so much smoke up your ass that you're going to contract lung cancer in your colon. It's just that you want to show off the maximum that it might be, when it'll always achieve only some of it.
  - VictoriouSecret
    
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    June 10, 2011 11:56 AM
    
    That's my feeling. Why even make it a "reinvent" a "reboot", etc?
  - ShXIII
    
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    June 10, 2011 12:16 PM
    
    Me too, looks good but they could have made a different game all together because Prey was a fantastic game by itself and could have used a true sequel that followed in its steps gameplay wise
  - atom519
    
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    June 10, 2011 12:29 PM
    
    I agree dantastic (wtf). This looks really awesome.
    - dantastic
      
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      June 10, 2011 12:44 PM
      
      don't wtf, i am always right
      - atom519
        
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        June 10, 2011 12:54 PM
        
        Did you watch the developer interview that showed a good amount of gameplay?
        
        http://youtu.be/vPMr0joaE6A?hd=1
        
        Herman Toothrot
        
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        June 10, 2011 3:02 PM
        
        Ooh, this is cool and different gameplay than I had already seen!
        Thanks!
    - formkatze
      
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      June 10, 2011 2:01 PM
      
      i'd say it sounds awesome, but it doesn't look awesome... the doom 3 engine isn't holding up too well. how could it, seven years later? still, this ought to be a fun game.
      - ManiacalMoose
        
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        June 11, 2011 6:13 PM
        
        Technically it may not look as impressive as some games released on newer engines, but stylistically its perfect. The Blade Runner inspired city is awesome.
  - dedgecko
    
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    June 10, 2011 1:39 PM
    
    well they did develop Prey.
  - [deleted] 877988455
    
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    June 10, 2011 2:27 PM
    
    [deleted]
  - LilCrypto
    
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    June 10, 2011 2:40 PM
    
    It makes me think of the Legend of the Galaxy Rangers in a really really good way.
- shirif
  
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  June 10, 2011 2:18 PM
  
  looking good.
- AgentPothead
  
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  June 10, 2011 2:22 PM
  
  Reminded me of Gunman Chronicles for some reason.
- melt_core
  
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  June 10, 2011 2:29 PM
  
  They're going to reinvent the whole series? All of them?
- thebigbeefsandwich
  
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  June 10, 2011 2:37 PM
  
  this looks like a Mass Effect side game. Which isn't a bad thing.
  - oO SilentK Oo
    
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    June 14, 2011 11:11 PM
    
    Yeah, was thinking it'd make a badass Mass Effect universe game, perhaps taking place between sequels, with the bounty hunter running into some of the trilogy's characters.
- Herman Toothrot
  
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  June 10, 2011 2:59 PM
  
  There's some gameplay footage here http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2011-prey-2/714963
- PowerLlama
  
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  June 11, 2011 12:46 PM
  
  Here's an idea. If you're looking to re-invent something, don't name it after the old thing.
- Epsilon Sector
  
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  June 12, 2011 10:32 PM
  
  Was interested, saw no PC logo, lost all interest immediately. A shame since the original was on the PC. Oh well...TES V: Skyrim, Deus Ex: HR, and X: Rebirth, here I come!
  - Disco Cat
    
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    June 14, 2011 4:02 AM
    
    In the interview he confirms that it is also being released on PC.
- Kubiac
  
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  June 16, 2011 12:14 PM
  
  Boba Fett Simulator FTW!