Is Prey the BioShock successor we've been waiting for, asked Phil in a recent conversation with the incoming sci-fi shooter's developers Arkane. Beyond its isolated dystopian setting and hulking otherworldly antagonists, the former's mix-and-match approach to combat—where protagonist Morgan Yu has a range of weapons and powers at his or her disposal—echoes that of the latter's plasmids/melee weapons/guns approach.
Prey's latest trailer, aptly named 'Weapons and Powers', offers a stylish overview of how we might combine Yu's resources to best overcome Talos 1's hostile alien threat.
As you can see there, a combination of powers matched with others powers and/or conventional weapons are covered all of which suggests leveraging your own favourite groupings will be possible—à la BioShock and the likes of Dishonored. The way Yu follows up Machine Mind with Electrostatic Burst to wipe out two enemy automatons reminded me of BioShock's Hypnotize, whereas Phantom Shift made me think of BS2's Decoy power.
"You might be mankind’s last hope aboard Talos 1, but you’ve got a mighty arsenal to face down the Typhon threat," says publisher Bethesda. "Armed with your wits, weapons and a host of incredible powers, it’s up to you to stop the alien invasion and save all of humanity. Piece of cake. With 24 human upgrades and 20 unique alien powers to choose from (plus all of their upgrades), no two Morgans will be the same, and no two players will have the same experiences in Prey.
"Along with the human abilities like Hacking, Leverage, Repair, and Gunsmith—all of which enhance Morgan’s innate strengths—you will have access to three distinct trees of Typhon-based abilities."
My favourite of those shown above? The Gloo Cannon, simply because it makes something so inelegant—i.e. dousing someone/something with huge globs of glue-like substance—look distinctly graceful.
Prey is due May 5, 2017. If you don't mind spoilers, James played through its first hour alongside Arkane's Raphael Colantonio and Ricardo Bare last month.
