The pacing is very similar – slow and methodical, dangerous and intense.

System Shock 2 and Arkane’s Prey are Sci-Fi survival horror FPS games, following the “immersive sim” design ethos which emphasizes emergent gameplay – there are countless ways to interact with the world that spawns new gameplay mechanics, such as skill/ability based requirements to access parts of the levels, recycling, usable computers, usable door locks, usable power switches, etc.

What does it have in common with the Shock games (namely System Shock 2), you ask? Here’s a list: While the “Prey” name is a literal fit for this game, it’s deceptive for anyone expecting something like Prey.Ī more appropriate name, added by a mod which is linked below. Hence why I personally refer to it as “Preyshock” (someone please come up with a better name in the comments, the original working title “Typhon” was certainly better). Arkane’s Prey is a slow paced, methodical survival horror FPS game focused on exploration and world interaction. That’s it, no story similarities and no real concrete gameplay similarities. The first weapon you get is a wrench in both games (but this is also the first weapon in System Shock 2, the game’s real immediate predecessor).

Really the only similarities between the two Prey games are: At the same time, Arkane is sort of going back to their roots with this game, as it’s more like their very first video game ever, Arx Fatalis. On the other hand, Arkane’s Prey is more like a spiritual successor to the System Shock games, like the BioShock games but much better with less dumbing down. It was a technologically groundbreaking unique take on the fast paced FPS genre thanks to its vertical, upside down, sideways, physics defying yet awesome gameplay full of alien technology that you interact with. The original Prey was a fast paced, action packed, bizarre but awesome Sci-Fi FPS on id Tech 4 engine. I suppose that makes Arkane’s game a reboot, but the two games could hardly be any more different. We previously reviewed the original Prey from Human Head Studios. With the upcoming release of the System Shock remake (be sure to play the demo), we decided to finally review Arkane Studios’ Prey released in 2017, as it is a System Shock series spiritual successor.

Is system shock anything like bioshock