Predator: Feel the scream of fear in space

introduction

The science fiction horror genre is unique in this category, combining science fiction and horror, and there have been many classic games in this genre.

For example, the famous science fiction shooter DOOM, which is the ancestor of science fiction horror games. Once led the game wave of the '90s.

Dead Space is one of the most successful sci-fi horror game series of the last decade. The scary creatures and the fear of the space environment in the game are still haunting players.

▲ Dead Space

The recent release of the new game "Prey", also attracted the attention of players, which is a first-person horror science fiction game. In the early publicity, the game is popular.

As a game launched in May, it can be described as this month's tripod masterpiece.

Prey is a science fiction horror game developed by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda. It was officially launched on Steam on May 5th.

Many players have called this game "Predator 2", because as early as 2006, 2K Studios had produced "Predator".

Developed by Human Head Studios in collaboration with 3D Realms, it was hailed as a 2K masterpiece at the time. However, because of the closure of the studio that year, it led to the abortion of Predator 2.

Bethesda later acquired the rights to Predator and developed the current version of Predator. This is a reboot of Predator after 11 years, so it can't be called Predator 2.

Game world view

Predator is a sci-fi horror game that blends narrative, action shooter, and RPG elements.

The world view of this game is set in the future 2032 space Talos I space station, the United States President Kennedy escaped assassination, and launched a powerful space program.

At the same time, a group called "Transtar" is conducting secret experiments to learn alien technology, and the protagonist is one of the subjects of the experiment.

The title's main character is Morgan Yu, the head of research at Transtar. The player can choose the gender of the main character in the opening scene.

In addition to the main character in the game to use all the resources and abilities in the space station to arm themselves. There's also the battle against alien species and the quest to uncover the station's dark secrets and its own past.

▲ "Prey" protagonist -- Morgan Yu

A compelling story

It is worth mentioning that the story of "Prey" brings me a great surprise. From the first 10 minutes, it's been a whirlwind of excitement and danger.

And where do the alien species in the game come from?

What's going on in the space station?

And what's the protagonist's surprising past?

It's like a "who am I, where am I, what am I going to do?" thriller. I am waiting to reveal the truth.

Picture expressiveness

Before the game was released, many players were worried that Predator would not repeat the mistakes of Dishonored 2 in terms of optimization.

Also developed by Arkane Studios, Dishonored 2's game optimization has left players complaining.

Fed up with the "Dishonored 2" screen optimization torture of players, this "Prey" in the optimization can be said to be better than the former to know where to go.

Even the GTX960 can run with full effects, in good conscience. Worried about optimizing children's shoes can now rest assured.

Predator deserves credit for not following in the footsteps of Dishonored 2 in terms of refinement.

Let's talk about the details.

When I thought that the highly optimized "Prey" would also surprise us in terms of the expressive power of the graphic details, the answer disappointed me.

"Prey" in the overall picture performance is still good, especially in the handling of some large scenes is very good, the grand scene is amazing. But the details are a little off. This is also a penalty point for the game.

Predator was built using CryEngine, compared to Dishonored 2, which was developed by The same studio and built using The Void Engine

The character modeling in Predator is mediocre. The facial details of the characters are not layered, and the picture is very blurred.

Although the engines are different, you'll find that Dishonored 2 has better character details than Predator.

▲ "Dishonored 2" character details

▲ The characters in "Prey" have no sense of hierarchy

In addition, the processing of "Predator" on other scenes, the shadow texture screen performance is very casual.

▲ Texture details are general

In the game process, there will be a slow screen material reading problem, the use of timely reading scheme can reduce the game reading time. However, such a setting will more or less affect the experience of the game.

Sound performance

As a horror game, its background music and sound effects are also an indispensable part of the game.

"Prey" is very good at sound processing. The dynamic electronic music at the beginning of the game is full of technology.

When the protagonist wakes up again, the background music changes to a creepy and dark style. It reflects the depression and fear of the environment.

The sudden strange sound effects in the game really shocked the author, and the sense of substitution is very strong. It fits the elements of the game -- science fiction and horror.

The cut into the background music is also done just right, although the background music in the game is not much, but each time the different BGM will always cut into the right occasion, there is a suspense and tension atmosphere, but also a thriller effect.

Rich and varied gameplay

In addition to the standard FPS mode, Predator also adds RPG elements.

Picking up trash is an essential part of the game. The waste collected can be made into resource utilization.

It is worth mentioning that all of the game's pickable item weapons can be disassembled, reassembled, and recycled.

▲ Addicted to picking up garbage can not extricate themselves

In this game, players can experience a variety of gameplay in the game:

There's stealth, assassination, push. And route options for breaking the intrusion and finding the password key card.

You can choose a good way to play according to your preferences. You can also mix a variety of gameplay, play tricks.

The overall feeling for the author is to find resources to break down the composition part like Fallout 4, the combat part like Biochemical Tip and Dishonored style.

 

Game features

Open map design

Like "Fallout 4", as a game produced by B Club, the collocation of open maps is essential.

The game is set in a space station in outer space, and the entire game area is explored in this space station.

The space station may seem small, but the map structure is large, and the area to explore is very broad.

The wrench is the main melee weapon in the game, and it consumes physical strength during use.

Unlike the alien monsters in "Dead Space", the enemy to face in "Predator" is the alien species "Storm Demon", which is a mimicry creature that can turn into any object around, and is a veritable camouflage master.

When you see the prop, knock it with a wrench to pick it up.

▲ Wrench in hand, the world I have

▲ and this kind of operation?

Character upgrade system

There are three ways to upgrade this work in the early days, which are scientists, engineers and security guards. The three types have their own advantages and complement each other.

▲ The initial character upgrade system

After acquiring "Mind Finder" at a later stage, three additional upgrade types will be added. That is, "psionic power."

It has the same abilities as an alien species, but it also has side effects for the main character.

The "psionic" ability is very similar to the setting in Dishonored, not to mention the game developed by the same studio.

▲ "Psionic" upgrade interface

Decomposition machine and production machine

The decomposition machine and the production machine are important props in the game, and the waste props picked up can be decomposed and synthesized into effective materials through the decomposition machine.

Then the material is put into the production machine, which will make the weapon props we need.

Space super gravity flight experience

In this game, some scenes of super-gravity flight left a deep impression on the author.

This is a rare outer space flight experience in the game, a slow flight in weightlessness.

Looking at the vast night sky and huge planets, as if you are walking in space, even if you have not been to space, you will be shocked by the space scenery in the game.

Such a flight experience temporarily lets players forget the tense and thrilling battle, and immerse in this rare space travel.  

The vast expanse of galaxies

Decryption element

The decryption elements of this game are very interesting, in the game, you will see some computers, automatic doors and encrypted password boxes need to be accessed through a password, if you know the password, you can easily solve.

But not all computers, automatic doors and combination boxes can be solved with a password.

When there is no password, we can solve it by cracking.

▲ Crack the intrusion

When cracking, the player controls a round ball to bypass the surrounding obstacles, move to the specified location within the time limit, and press the corresponding key to crack successfully.

▲ Cracked success

If you fail to crack it within the time limit, the protagonist takes 10 health damage.

▲ Failure to crack will reduce blood

Conclusion

"Prey" this sci-fi horror game gives us a lot of surprises, the clever insertion of horror thriller sound effects, the combination of old FPS and this RPG elements, brings a rich variety of gameplay.

The game optimization is very good, and the atmosphere of the game is also very good.

Of course, there are some shortcomings in the game, that is, the graphical details are not satisfactory.

In addition, sometimes the enemy AI intelligence is touching. The quest system is a bit impersonal, but that doesn't stop Prey from being a conscientious game in early May.

This is a reboot after 11 years, after changing the developer, the ill-fated new version of "Prey" finally appeared in front of the players.

Arkane Studios was not negatively affected by Dishonored 2.

Through my own experience in level design, combined with the characteristics of B Club games, I have provided players with an overall quality and highly acclaimed science fiction horror game.