Story spoilers ahead.
When I first started Prey, I was genuinely hooked. The opening was incredible. Waking up inside what I thought was reality, only to discover everything was fake and I was actually being experimented on, immediately made me want answers. I had absolutely no idea what was going on, and that mystery kept me pushing forward.
The Mimics were also brilliant. Every chair, coffee mug and random object suddenly became suspicious. The atmosphere was tense, resources were limited, and every encounter with the Typhon felt dangerous. I also loved how alien they looked instead of feeling like generic sci-fi monsters.
The next few hours were honestly my least favourite part of the game. Once Talos I opened up, I felt more overwhelmed than excited. The map was confusing, the main lift was still locked, backtracking felt tedious, and the game threw so many side quests at me that I was constantly worried I'd miss something by progressing too far. As I became stronger, found better weapons and unlocked more abilities, the horror slowly disappeared. Mimics stopped surprising me, Phantoms became routine, and even the stronger Typhon no longer felt intimidating. Honestly though, I don't think that's a flaw. It actually made sense because my character had become much more capable.
Everything changed around the middle of the game when I finally unlocked the main lift. Travelling became much easier, I started remembering the layout of Talos I, and that's when the game truly clicked. The freedom is incredible. If I couldn't reach somewhere, I'd build my own staircase with the GLOO Cannon. If there was a tiny opening, I'd turn into a coffee mug. If a button was behind glass, I'd shoot it with the Huntress Boltcaster. Very few games let you solve problems however you want, and Prey absolutely nails that.
By the second half, I completely fell in love with the game. Talos I became one of my favourite game environments because every room tells a story. Reading emails, notes and audio logs slowly reveals what happened before everything collapsed. You start recognizing crew members, understanding their relationships, and later finding their bodies in places that actually mean something because you already know who they were. I cared about the survivors. I wanted to save as many people as possible. I chose the Nullwave ending because I wanted to save both humanity and the people still trapped aboard Talos I instead of simply blowing everything up.
Unfortunately, the ending completely ruined that emotional payoff for me. Learning that everything I'd spent over twenty hours doing was ultimately just a simulation to test whether a Typhon hybrid could develop human empathy made the entire journey feel pointless. It wasn't because I didn't understand the ending...I simply don't enjoy this type of "it was all a simulation" story. I wanted to see the real conclusion to Morgan Yu's story and the consequences of everything I'd worked toward. Instead, the game tells me Morgan is already dead, Earth is already devastated, and everything I emotionally invested in was part of a simulation.
If there had been a Prey 2, I honestly would've accepted this ending. I would've seen it as setup for the next chapter. But since there isn't, the ending just left me feeling like none of my efforts actually mattered.
I call Prey an unfortunate masterpiece because, for over twenty hours, I genuinely believed I was playing one of the best immersive sims ever made. Then the ending took away the emotional payoff I'd spent the entire game working toward. It didn't erase everything I loved, but it kept the game from becoming a masterpiece for me.
But that's just my subjective opinion. I know many people love this kind of twist..it simply isn't for me.
Everything else? Absolutely phenomenal. The gameplay, player freedom, level design, world-building, enemy design, art direction, music, environmental storytelling, and Talos I itself are genuinely exceptional. I absolutely loved my time with Prey, and I don't regret playing it for a second.
7/10. A game that came incredibly close to becoming one of my all-time favourites... but unfortunately stumbled at the finish line.
