Prey gives you the freedom to explore where you want, whenever you want as long as you’ve got the means to get there. Even once the credits roll, Prey has a lot still to offer thanks to the replayability that this freedom provides. Unfortunately, Prey’s most interesting Neuromod abilities aren’t available until a little later in the game. With these offering some of the coolest ways to tackle the scenarios you’ll find yourself in, it’s disappointing that these weren’t implemented earlier, so we could have made full use of them.

The Typhon you come up against in Prey range from the fast-moving, shape-shifting Mimics, to the mind-controlling Telepaths, each one requiring you to utilize different elements of your arsenal in order to come out on top. Getting up close and personal might work with a Mimic, but you’ll get toasted if you try that on a flame-engulfed Thermal Phantom. Working out the best ways to defeat these enemies is just as much a puzzle as navigating the maze-like interior of Talos I. But while they should be a joy to take on,  it’s a little hit and miss (literally) when it comes to actually executing your attack. Swinging your wrench into the inky black face of an alien creature sounds like it should be incredibly satisfying, but it’s very difficult to tell if you’ve successfully hit an enemy with a melee attack or not. You may get a slight rumble, and occasionally you’ll get a finisher animation, but for the most part, each of Morgan’s wild flails with the trusty wrench feels just as floaty and unsatisfactory as the last.

It’s an issue that also rears its head when using ranged weaponry. Regardless of whether I was using the silenced pistol or the Q-Beam, it was difficult to keep my fairly large reticle trained dead-center on the fast-moving Typhon with such loose aiming. The result is the kind of shooting you’d see from Stormtroopers, except you’ll maybe land a couple. It’s a frustrating waste of ammo that could have been spared had the gunplay been tightened up, especially considering how scarce things can get later on. A proper aim down sights system is also absent, only further adding to the frustrations of a combat system incapable of keeping up to speed with the enemy. Considering dealing with the Typhon becomes a pretty large part of Prey, it’s disappointing that the combat struggles to deliver an experience quite as immersive as simply exploring Prey’s environment does.

After about 18 hours with Prey, I’d completed the main quest, a bunch of side quests, and unfortunately, witnessed a ton of technical issues. During my playthrough, the game warned me of corrupted saves, glitched me and enemies through walls (or out of the space station entirely), and struggled to load in random textures. On top of that, the game takes an incredibly long time to load. Not just when you’re first loading your save, either. Every time you enter a new area (which you’ll do a lot), die and restart, or explore the ship’s exterior, you’re looking at a 45-60 second wait. Had it been given a few more months in the incubator, many of these technical hitches would likely have been patched, but it’s a pretty disappointing technical performance for a game that’s hardly pushing the envelope.

Despite its noticeable technical shortcomings, Prey still has some significant redeeming qualities. Its environment is one of the most enjoyable to explore and the way it weaves its overarching story into side quests only helps to accentuate the freedom you’re given as a player. If you can overlook its unsatisfying combat and floaty controls, Prey’s freedom and multiple endings provide a game that’s worth experiencing.

Score: 3/5 – Fair