PREY

One of the most creatively ambitious FPS games of all time.

- By Robert Jones

Prey is a ridiculous game. Ridiculous in many ways, but mostly in terms of creative ambition. At its core, Prey is still an FPS, so you run forwards and sideways and, occasionally, backwards, while shooting stuff in the head. The shooting is good, but not great. But surrounding that solid core is a game that drips with a level of ambition and creativity that few first-person shooter games have ever delivered, or even attempted to deliver. And it starts with the game’s narrative setup, which immediately tells you that you’re not in FPS Kansas any more.

You're Domasi ‘Tommy’ Tawodi, a former soldier with Cherokee Native American blood running through your veins, and all you want to do is get off this goddamned reservation with your girlfriend, Jen, and start a new life away from your cultural heritage. Jen doesn’t want to leave, though, and your grandfather, Enisi, who is the most Cherokee Native American of all time, is constantly bugging you to embrace your heritage and stay put. As Jen is explaining to you why she doesn’t want to leave, though, serving drinks at the reservation’s bar, she’s hit on by a pair of drunk thugs, and the next thing you know, you're beating them to a pulp while Jen desperately pleads with you to stop. That’s when the roof of the bar is dematerialized and aliens in a giant spaceship tractor-beam you all up.

BEAM ME UP, TOMMY

“Ah,” you tell yourself, “that was pretty cool. Now to grab a gun and shoot aliens in corridors until you rescue Enisi and Jen.” But