Prey (2017) - The Most Underrated Game Ever?

[@SmittyDealio]

Prey is easily in my top 5 games. The world building and the station itself is amazing.

[@why_so_serious]

What else is in your top 5?

[@Jediahgames]

Same

[@SmittyDealio]

@@why_so_serious idk I hate video games. The Last of Us 2, Disco Elysium, Yakuza Kiwami, and maybe The Phantom Pain or Dead Space, if it's post-PS2.

[@dasuero7489]

​@@SmittyDealio At least, you're honest about it. I hate video games to some degree as well mainly because of skill gap (I suck hardcore at most of the games I choose to play, but I still play when I can/have the chance or feel like it) and not engaging with games at an early age or continuing to do it and forming addiction and obsession to beat and experience games and their stories and immerse into the world. There's so many games out there I could have played if I had the money and the exposure/beforehand knowledge to them.

[@robbanbobban2]

Check out Gloomwood's early access release, should come out tomorrow. Might scratch a similar itch.

[@Elixyr1985]

The DLC is also a masterpiece

[@discojoe3]

Prey is a supreme masterpiece, the greatest immersive sim, a game with beautiful emergent gameplay, compelling character progression, and a wonderfully engaging storyline.

[@cam0x195]

"emergent"

[@MeatSnax]

I think every aspect of this game is truly exceptional, but the art style and visual design is historic. I'd heard a lot of great things about this game for a long time, but you know what got me to actually play it? The intro with the game's title and credits appearing on the buildings, the design of the shotgun, and seeing the world outside break from being hit with a wrench. If only the enemy design was more varied I'd call the game perfect.

[@Phantom86d]

Okay, so if the Void connection is in Prey, you might want to look into the Dishonored series. The special abilities and magic are all produced from the Void because their scapegoat deity, the Outsider, filters the Void from Reality. The first game doesn't touch on it much, unless you play the DLCs, but most of the magic system is mental perception/ time space manipulation. The second and last put more emphasis on the Void and how it can disturb reality. They are really interesting games when you take into account a number of different angles. Arkane Studios knows how to tell a good story.

[@equenoko6281]

This is why I love your videos, This game is awesome and nobody has played it!

[@rendarcrow]

Could you imagine a rust like game with mimics 🤩

[@TheArtist808]

Prey is extremely underrated. Immersive Sims need more love in general

[@Akkima92]

"We all make choices, but in the end our choices make us." Thanks for the great video once again Max! Prey truly is one of those games that deserves recognition.

[@boigercat]

One thing I really love about prey is its a somewhat recent game that reminded me more of games like doom 3, riddick, The darkness etc with how you interact with the world and so on but expanded in a way that the consoles of their time couldn't handle. Also that opening section of the game was brilliant and when that glass broke so did my mind lol

[@QuantumTelephone]

I didn't find doom 3 to be very interactive, unless I'm missing something. Can you elaborate on that one?

[@stephenmurray2851]

I agree.

[@kaspersaldell]

@@QuantumTelephone There's no way to elaborate on that, it's just a straight-up faulty comparison

[@anthonyhiggins9799]

It's got a whole lot in common with System Shock 2, Deus Ex and Bioshock, and very little in common with Doom, Riddick or The Darkness.

[@charleshorseman55]

Chronicles of Riddick on the original Xbox was one of the coolest games made. Even in the shadow of Halo.

[@ducksauce2696]

I think there are a bunch of reasons this game flew under the radar for most: 1: It's an immersive sim, these games have proven to be a niche since System Shock. Other big titles in the genre like Deus Ex, Thief and System Shock 2 weren't huge financial hits either. 2: Poor marketing: naming the game Prey. Bethesda insisted on using the brand name Prey they still had lying around even though it's not really an appropiate name for the game. This also struck a painful nerve at the players who were really looking forward to Prey 2 by HumanHead Studios which got canceled in the process. A better name for this game would have been PsychoShock or NeuroShock. Or even Typhon. 3: The stupidity of the industry's journalists: IGN giving the game a 4.5 at launch and Gamespot branded it with a 'generous' 6.0! How those 'professional journalists' still dare to show their face after debacles like this is a mystery to me. What is however completely asinine is that years after it's release many of those online journals started publishing articles and videos about how everyone slept on this really good game. Pretending they didn't miss the boat by a landslide. Same happened to Demon's Souls and Dark Souls really. Once it became a game with a cult following the journalists felt like they had to make up for being late to the party with sycophantic articles trying to establish how much they live and breathe the franchise because that gives them 'gamercred'. It even lead the embarrassing fact that Dark Souls 2, considered the worst in the series by the absolute majority of the playerbase, has the highest metacritic out of all Dark Souls games. And the Demon's Souls remake is somehow a better game in 2020 than in 2009. Prey got a second 'review' a few years down the line trying to 'undo the damage'. The truth is that games that require a few days of really sinking your teeth in them usually don't bode well with journalists trying to rush a review out the door. It also wasn't an well-established IP so having flaws is now a good reason to bite a few points off the score. Never the less, do yourself a favor. Pick up Prey on Steam. When it's on sale it's usually around 5-7 bucks. It's wonderful and the Mooncrash DLC is great too. Have a good one!

[@benharbak]

IGN and GameSpot have earned their spots as trash rags after the shocking number of games I've slept on due to their reviews. I used to put a lot of stock into what GameSpot said, then IGN, then I just stopped trusting "professional" reviewers altogether.

[@SirAlexanderr]

ign gave cuphead a bad review because the reviewer couldnt get past the tutorial. they are all clowns.

[@wyldeman7]

Neuroshock would have been an incredible title

[@m.heyatzadeh]

Great points. I just finished it yesterday and hands down it's one the best games I have come across. I do agree with you pointing out the bad reviews and unfairness these so called journalists did against it. I hope the mooncrash dlc is as good as the main game.

[@headphonesaxolotl]

I got it for $3.25 including tax.

[@loicbrighton7957]

From time to time I just type "Prey 2017" on KZbin just to remind myself of how good this game is. It's awesome to see that people keep releasing new videos about it. Arkane's games just hit different.

[@Kinos141]

I think that scanning the Typhon enemies to find weaknesses was a great touch. It made me read the lore, so I can find the best way to defeat my current enemy. That's a combo of gameplay, lore, world building and ludo narrative harmony coming together.

[@penguinjay]

very much like metroid prime, it felt good to try and freeze up an enemy to scan, or sneak around and scan them without them noticing you.

[@zacburns2724]

I just finished playing this for the first time and had to find a video like this. Wow. Just wow. This should be on every gamers list. Exploration is one of my favorite things to do in a game and the first time I stepped foot in the Talos 1 Lobby, I was like a kid in a candy store. The vibe of this game is so awesome. Reading every piece of material a game like this gives you isn’t usually for me but I wanted to know everything behind the events of Talos. Just a lovely lovely game. The moment I realized the test from the beginning was to see if the person would use human or Typhon abilities is when I realized this is one of the best game narratives of all time.

[@TheGreatHsilgne]

Really wish I could selectively edit my memory so that Prey's more mind-blowing moment could be re-experienced blindly, but I also want to keep some of my knowledge of how in-depth the game is so that I know to really take my immersion seriously.

[@robbanbobban2]

The game has four absolutely mind blowing moments: 1. Breaking the balcony window 2. First time space walking 3. Apex consuming the station 4. The post-credit reveal I too wish I could relieve these moments without prior knowledge.

[@zaglezigawa8415]

Guess you guys need a neuromod removal XD

[@jonessabr]

@@robbanbobban2 a simple one (side quest) that really got me was when you listen to the audio of the Russian lady's dad. That thing was dark.

[@jebes909090]

Dharpa apparently is able to delete certain memories now as a way of combating ptsd. Whether i'd risk it to replay prey, is another story.

[@bondrewdthenovel3598]

I played "Prey" a long time ago, by accident (it had an insulting discount of Steam and I was in the middle of a consumer fever). As far I remember in my first (and only run) I didn't took any typhon augmentation (the idea of becoming the same monster that wants to kill me felt weird). Instead I invested in accuracy and survival stuff, and relied on stealth, headshots and kinetic launches. I took Alex's hand and that's it. The game felt like a fever dream. Is like that good book that you plan to return to read again after many years.

[@Jacket01]

I took typhon abilities because if the end goal is to blow up the station might as well use the most powerful abilities. I mean in real life if I know I'm dying anyway I'd do it.

[@johnlombardo7816]

bravo! me too! i actually didnt realize i did use the first morph one.. and i was like, i dont even know how to use this, forget this,.. jacked up my hacking skills and as you said all the other mods for accuracy etc.. and i seem to do fine, im not done with the game, but am happy to know i will be able to make it through without having to upgrade those as i am having trouble finding more neuromods.. haha

[@COMPOR7272]

Prey is a masterpiece

[@modernmobster]

I've been singing the praises of thos game for the last 5 years, and the Mooncrash dlc is one of my favorite dlcs ever. Arkane has never and will likely never create a better game than Prey. Also, Max, have you ever played Get Even? It's a flawed but really unique experience that seems like it'd be something up your alley.

[@sakalaath]

I loved the game, but for me it can't beat the first Dishonored. The audio mixing in the game is pretty poor. If you've ever played it with no music, it is pretty bad (which is disappointing because I get tired of the constant horror music). The backtracking gets pretty bad. The enemies teleporting makes them not fun to fight. Very good game, but not as flawless as I would like.

[@johnlombardo7816]

thanks! gonna get mooncrash next time i sign on now!!! which will be later on ! haha

[@johnlombardo7816]

@@sakalaath is the first dishonored better than the 2nd? i downloaded backwards apparently, but its fun, just seems like it is missing something

[@modernmobster]

@@johnlombardo7816 Dishonored 2 is still a great game, but 1 is just better all around. 1 was also made by the same studio (Arkane Austin) behind Prey, whereas the studio behind 2 (Arkane Lyon) made Deathloop.

[@sakalaath]

@@johnlombardo7816 I would say that 1 is better. 2 is still good, but the movement just feels a bit clunkier. 2 still has some great level design, and you will enjoy it.

[@RecluseBootsy]

To answer your question: I shook his hand and accepted that, though this experiment could be considered cruel, it was an effort to make peace between two species. At any point they could've killed me and started over with another. I felt that the base response of killing for a perceived betrayl would be petty and all too human. I chose to embody their ideals over their actions, especially since I spent the whole damn game trying to preserve my personal humanity at the cost of empowerment. I understood, forgave them for their fears, and applauded the effort.

[@RecluseBootsy]

@Arnaud Loche hmmm must've been beyond saving. Lol you must have forsaken your humanity somehow. Idk

[@zaglezigawa8415]

Getting all or most humans killed, failing or ignoring most side quests will result in that ending... It is the same as the December ending, which he didn't mention for some reason...

[@IlNamelessKinglI]

I felt like shaking his hand and betraying were equally good choices. Betraying makes sense, because they lied to you all this time and they are using you to reach their goal and they captured you, running tests on you that they erase every time they see fit or straight up kill you. Shaking their hand makes sense because maybe the Typhon actually can see their vision based on what the player did in the simulation, or maybe its like the Typhon got brainwashed or tricked into favoring the humans. Anyhow I felt surprised by the 2 choices, especially since I didnt expect the ending at all, I expected an happy ending Bioshock 1 style since I got the most empathetic ending on my first run and without using any Guides! I didnt save ALL the humans, some got killed by random shit but I saved enough to get the Trophy I guess 😂

[@Ant0nAL0g]

I would consider that Alex had probably killed countless Typhon in this experiment. You are just one that lived to this point.

[@BrockLee3]

The end of the game is still a "dream sequence." Whether you shake Alex's hand or kill them all is a test to see if the experiment worked. It's just another simulation; and, if you choose to kill them all, you are killed, and another Typhon is put in your place for another experiment. Or, you will be tested on again and again until the correct choices are made. That Typhon will never truly know if it is ever set free from the simulations. It thought the simulations were real to the point it was killing other Typhon. How could it possibly know it's ever out of the simulations? Therefore, it would probably learn to make the right choices, but for the sole purpose of seeking freedom. This reminds me of the most terrifying thought behind the Turing Test: "I do not fear when an A.I. passes the Turing Test. I worry when an A.I. fails the Turing Test on purpose." What if the Typhon does the same thing? What if it's just passing the tests because it thinks that's what the humans WANT to hear? Then, when it's finally free...it will kill them all.

[@ironl4nd]

But, as you said, "that typhon will never truly know if it is ever set free from the simulations", therefore it will never kill them all.

[@TheCreepyLantern]

@@ironl4nd that way leads to madness. If you're seven "wake ups" deep and STILL not convinced this is real i truly believe no sentient mind could survive that level of paranoia and stress.

[@BrockLee3]

@@ironl4nd But, what if ONE DAY, it decides that it doesn't matter whether it chooses to kill them all or to not kill them all; because, the Typhon will think it's always in the simulation? What if, ONE DAY, it chooses to kill them all on that one day that it was actually set free? Then, the humans will kill the Typhon because it simply THOUGHT the wrong thing.

[@Kinos141]

Simulation theory is a bitch. How do you know if the simulation you woke up from is real or another simulation? You don't.

[@BrockLee3]

@@Kinos141 EXACTLY! That's what the Typhon has to wonder throughout it's whole life, now. But, I'm pretty sure it's a simulation for that one Typhon...I mean...text boxes asking you to shake someone's hand, or kill them all just don't appear out of nowhere.

[@PaperBenni]

4:56 the events were not a neural simulation, they actually took place. They tested neuromods on morgan and then removed them again which resets their memory to a point before the neuromod was inserted. This is also the reason why morgan's eyes get more and more red, to morgan it seems like a single day has passed because at the end of each one they forget it took place. Edit: 5:15 january is not a copy of morgan, only its voice sounds like morgan. It is not able to do anything outside the goal morgan has programmed into it

[@frostarda]

What a masterpiece, impacted me as if it was half life 3; might be an immersive sim but still feels like the spiritual successor to HL... black mesa and the talos space station both were the places which mesmerised me most

[@Imoenn]

Prey is a true RPG there are so many choices you can make that you don't think you can due to it being a game. Edit: I saved everyone and shook his hand.

[@Winter_Lantern]

Prey is the sort of game that no one bothers to make anymore, not until we grow moss waiting for those system shock remakes. That alone sets it apart, along with its own little things like the gloo gun environment interactivity, great game, solid enough story.

[@viktorvondoom9119]

Well, System Shock remake has been released. Did you play it yet?

[@Winter_Lantern]

@@viktorvondoom9119 no I super want to but currently I'm in military service, I barely played re8 in the course of 2 months whenever I could xd. Will pick it up soon now tho

[@viktorvondoom9119]

@@Winter_Lantern Bummer! Ive been the same though (although not military service). Ben looking out to it for years and now its finally here and no time. One day!

[@Charlio23]

The issue with the usual "it was all a dream/simulation" ending often found in media is that it takes away from the plot. If none of it was real, then why should our choices or emotions matter? But in Prey, (at least the way i understood it) the simulation is based on the real Morgan Yu's memories. The things we went through did actually happen, they just didn't happen to us. This and the context of why Alex puts us through the simulation at the end adds to the plot rather than taking away from it. It's a brilliant way to utilise a classic twist.

[@formbi]

I think the simulation is like a sandbox based on Morgan's memories, the robots talk about the things you did in your playthrough like they saw it for the first time

[@ideohazard]

I just finished Prey yesterday for the first time. Amazing. Fantastic. Incredible. I played System Shock 2 back in 2000, and dozens of times since. I have longed for a game like Prey since then. I was disappointed with BioShock. It felt like a less-realized version of Shock 1 & 2. Prey felt like the opposite. Playing on near maximum difficulty aside from oxygen, I achieved Do No Harm, I saved everyone, and never used a Typhon neuromod. I saved the station and opted to maintain my commitment to a pacifism toward Alex and humanity in the end. The end scene was glorious. Because the main storyline of Prey is a simulation, it implies that the world of Talos 1 is an immersive sim within an immersive sim. I didn't think the "it was all a dream" angle, overdone as it is, was the wrong move here. The game is testing you, and testing Yu. Yu is not the Typhon, you are. We the player are the true alien in the world of Talos 1 and Alex and the Operators. It is utter genius. How would you behave in a simulated world where your actions had no consequences? I loved the multiple outs, where taking any escape pod, or Alexs's pod in particular, were options presented before the finale came. Adding this narrative out really felt like there was some kind of player agency the entire time and that the game was not so much on rails as too many games are. I loved the easter egg of the Arx Fatalis player skills/stats being presented as on character sheet for the in-game RPG. Wonderful shout out to another underrated game (well, Arkane's game also). I went on and on to friends and anybody who would listen about how great Shock 2 was back in my 20s, this is the first game, since then, that I have felt that way.

[@Deadforge]

Easily my 2nd favorite game of all time. I'm glad I finally got around to watching you're video. I'm always down to hear someone's thoughts on this beauty. A true immersive sim lobe letter. I'm gonna try to make a good video on this and Weird West.

[@anaudin]

Thanks! What’s your first? 😊

[@Deadforge]

@@anaudin My all time favorite is RDR2

[@abyss9316]

... this game gives a whole another meaning to the genre known as immersive SIMULATOR ..... Prey is definitely a unique game in this Modern Age with all of the focus on open world sandbox or FPS multiplayer/ Battle Royale type games A game set alone on a someone deserted space station with a shapeshifting alien being with the freedom to go about the station as they see fit to demolish and destroy everything in their way and obliterate all humans and the alien presence or the opposite to save all humans and protect Them also the choice to reject the alien scientific breakthrough known as neuromods. And to forge your own way

[@formbi]

it is an open area, but a small one

[@slabness]

What did you pick Max? Love your content, your brain is a philosophical powerhouse, you see the subtext and meaning and make it in a way that my monkey brain can actually understand, and when I'm done watching your videos it makes me want to throw my own faeces at my laptop. Thank you for shitting up my laptop and opening my mind. Love you bro. Take care of yourself, hope you're doing well

[@giovlms]

Max I swear to god I'm in love with your format. Your content is so enlightening and entertaining, it's eeeasily on my top5 channels on KZbin.

[@ladyfox6705]

I love Arkane, and recently got Prey to play for the first time! Looking forward to playing it 🙌 Will definitely watch your video after I've finished, Max 💛

[@tzophek]

I took Alex's hand. Probably about 5 times at this point xD I love this game. I don't play a lot of games, I barely got a gaming PC but Prey is something I can play any time. I have tried several difficulties, I also did one run without installing any typhon-based neuromods. And I still have so much stuff to do! Every time I play, I find something I have missed in all my previous runs. And I never really dabbled with all the possible abilities, so I'll do that too sometimes in the future. It's really my comfort game and I may be biased but I truly believe it's a good game.

[@tntradernox3654]

Man, you covering the philosophy of Destiny would be amazing…. It would just take 3 years of studying to understand lol

[@Feksen1]

"Guardians make their own fate"

[@burkuschgoldberg]

After watching your video for only a few minutes I decided to buy the game. I ve finished it today and I am so happy, you brought it to my attention. It is a beautiful, intelligent and immersive experience and I will recommend it to other players from now on. Oh and by the way, I killed everybody at the end

[@CasperGustavssonMLGY]

Prey is one of my favourite games! Never thought about the story through an ethical and moral point of view but I still really enjoyed it, and this video made me love it even more. Can't believe it didn't get more praise. I feel like it was an uphill battle just because it was called Prey and people were expecting something else. Great video!

[@TeQxktcg]

Is it truly underrated? I've always held it in high regard but I've come to learn that my opinion occasionally tends to deviate from the 'norm'..

[@czarkowskipawelyt]

It's rated like twenty points lower than the most overrated game of all time (Ocarina of TIme) on the most popular review aggregator, so yeah, it's definitely underrated.

[@adriendejean1915]

One of my favorite game of all time and i'm totally ok with the cliché ending, cause it's serve a purpose .

[@Jediahgames]

This game needs to be known by more people man

[@dasuero7489]

As I'm watching now, the first minute of your video here, for some reason brought to mind the philosophy of contractualism. I've wondered and would like to know if there are great games and films/media that explore its conclusions and implications in a compelling and thoughtful way with its characters and writing and conventions. Any ideas?

[@mateusgreenwood1096]

Naming the game "Prey" was fucking stupid, a lot of people thought it was some other game's remake

[@ganelon76]

I just beat Prey a few days ago, it was great. I really enjoyed it. I can see a lot of replay value.

[@micmic2575]

Despite running a good as possible run of prey, when faced with the final choice, I killed them all. The betrayal and layers of lies upon lies was too much. What was I then, did they take that? Many other questions like that seeped into my mind when the game asked me what would I do. Looking back, I was had hoped there was some 3rd option, but the shock of it all heavily influenced my initial choice, which was to kill. It took me over 2 minutes to decide. I'm glad they didn't introduce a timed mechanic with that last option.

[@Eightfinger]

Such a great game. I loved the ending, and chose the positive one. The game asked so many good questions, and rewarded curiosity and your own deep thinking.

[@AntLeonardi01]

Pretty amazing game honestly. Every element is at least above average. I really don’t know why it was more or less overlooked. Maybe just poor marketing. The DLC is a really great rougelike as well.

[@atrusraine3661]

I shook his hand. Watching this video has me downloading this game again. I really love this video! Thank you for uploading and putting in the work to make another quality video!!

[@LongDaysPleasantNights]

And now MS has shut down Arkane Austin as well as other Bethesda studios simply because the game didn't make them enough money despite them being a literal trillion dollar company. We'll never get a sequel to this now, one of my favourite games of 2017. Well done MS, rather than nurture these companies in order to make incredible games in the future, they've chosen to instead focus pretty much entirely on Fallout and ES with Bethesda games

[@talonvoidgeist2386]

The biggest problem with Prey and what had me finding it difficult to really be invested and attached to it is I feel the very concept of the enemies is more gimmicky than memorable or even menacing. They're more of a puzzle element than a factor that adds fear or danger to the setting. You can have aliens who are just predatory creatures trying to survive and have no actual feelings of malice and are just... a force of nature, but they have to have SOME kind of aspect to them that invokes feelings of being PREYed upon, and the mimics are... just blobby.

[@persona2bestpersona891]

100% one of the best games ever a true cult classic

[@elviskleber10]

It's very interesting how Prey actually gets to make the meta narrative that Bioshock Infinite tried to do. In Prey the simulation it's a way to disclose the artifice of a contructed softwere enviroment that is videogames, but instead of simply acknowledging it the post credits scene actually close the meta narrative on the central theme of empathy, the way I see the final choice it's actually a question for the player's empathy for this specific arrangements of zeroes and one that we call Prey. This also ties really well to the framing device of Mind Games: Prey it's a mind game inside a mind game inside a mind game, all constructed to find the core of the player empathy. To explain a bit the comparison with bioshock infinite: Bioshock infinite turnout not to be an immersive sim but it started as one and the meta narrative ken levine tried to make of Infinite lighthouses and questioning player's actions would be the logical jump from the "would you kindly" twist, however I think Prey actually is the one who got to advance that intent of meta narrative in this post credit scene. Prey is a better companion to bioshock than bioshock infinite is.

[@Alex-hm7nt]

Just beat this a week ago and I chose to shake. Granted I had a save point so I reloaded and then chose violence just to see if anything different happened. I just really liked how the ending dialog changed to how you did your business in the game. Granted, if you run it back and did things differently...it doesn't REALLY make a difference, or does it? (I'm about to try my second playthrough) This game was a hardcore (original) Deus Ex twin imo (right down to the clunky melee combat) and DE is one of my favorite games of all time. I'm disappointed with myself that I didn't play this sooner. I've been telling everyone I know to play it!

[@Ohem1]

I like that there's a thought behind the game, but the execution comes off as "oh we're trying to be deep with these questions" with an in-your-face approach instead of being subtle about the points it's trying to make. Let me take BioShock as an example, Andrew Ryan had a long monologue about capitalism and not paying taxes, the thought is seeded and slowly built up. But Prey took the blunt approach with "I don't want to pay taxes" the end ROLL CREDITS.

[@JOE7BATES]

I played Prey blind on hard with limited to no HUD. It was a fantastic mystery and horror experience for me. Genuinely had chills when i would go out in space

[@penguinjay]

"In a World full of lies, Yu shouldn't take everything at face value" -a short comparison of Prey to real life events I missed this game at launch because I'm a patient gamer, and I usually only play games after they are filtered by time, I don't buy incomplete games day 1 no matter how much hype there is. I believe this one had a marred launch of some sort iirc-- But I eventually did come back to it and am glad I did! Prey lasted the test of time. It stands on it's own merit. It's not perfect, but it's so great. The isolation and paranoia they created is insane. The moral questions they posited in game came into effect IRL in 2021 when over half the world took experimental injections, while the others saw that it would most likely have dire consequences and opted not to. All the sociopolitical questions raised in this game came into real life fruition in 2021-2022. These questions they raised in Prey in 2017 were 100% completely realistic--Immersive Simulation at it's finest. Now, many people are deeply regretful of their neuromods, but unlike in Prey, they are unable to remove them and return to their condition before having them installed. It makes Prey that much better of an Imm-Sim seeing the moral questions they raised ACTUALLY coming to fruition for people. REAL LIFE EVENTS expanded so much more on the questions they raised. The way these questions were left to the player to discover and think about, or ignore and skip was a touch of brilliance--just like real life! Some choose not to engage with those ideas. Depending on whether someone accepted the neuromods, I remember when people wanted other people put in camps, children taken away from their parents, people forcibly neuromodded, or wholly unable to participate in the society they have no choice in.....or possibly even worse-terminated. Those evil people that think it's been forgotten what they advocated for--they are dropping like flies. I guess in a World full of lies, Yu shouldn't take everything at face value! (dat pun)

[@Marco_Orochi]

This is Awesome! Your videos are amazing!! Please! Go check RETURNAL FOR PS5. I think (in your words) is one of the MOST PROFOUND GAMES ever made! Is that kind of games where (like prey)the story has to be unfold and interpreted by the player. Don’t make a video about it if you don’t want! But definitely go check it out

[@symbiotesoda1148]

Just played through Prey, I got the “I am Thou” ending, taking Alex’s hand. It was amazing. I felt so accomplished for getting the “best” ending and I actually had fun using only human abilities and moving at super speed in slowed time blasting through typhon with a shotgun.

[@dunno6161]

I took his hand, but i sat for a looooong time thinking. I didn't even know until after a second run that if you stray from a certain path (SPOILERS), Alex rips you out of the sim a bit more jarringly and says they'll have to dispose of you for being too hostile before trying again, with another hybrid.

[@RFX91]

How do you get that to happen?

[@malazan6004]

I am so happy with myself I finally played it in 2021 and I was glued to the screen. Unsure if I'll ever play another game that will give me the same feelings. I don't have mooncrash is that worth it? Dishonored and deus ex were good but not comparable for me

[@SNARC15]

To me Prey 2017 is the game that Bioshock should have been in the end. The Bioshock games, especially Infinite, devolved from a successor to System Shock to a mindless shooter (albeit with excellent partner AI) but Prey 2017 kept all the elements that made SS1 and especially SS2 so good. I don't know if it's the most underrated game of all time, but it's definitely the most underrated of last gen.

[@ClockworkBlade]

Whether or not I was Morgan wasn’t the question, it was who I wanted to be knowing the truth…. And I wanted to be someone who cared, just like the Morgan I played caring about everyone. So I took his hand…. Who I was, who I am, neither of those matter for they could change in but an instant, who I want to be is what matters, for that will never change.

[@stonegiant4]

When I first played prey I saved every person I could and did every "good" action possible. Yet in the end when faced with the final choice, I killed Alex yu. It wasn't a rational decision, it was entirely emotional and based on the betrayal of autonomy that the simulation ment to program me to be a docile slave represented.

[@azermanesward3290]

Fragmented story telling works in something like Dark Souls, because the overwhelming majority of things you read add to the story. In Prey, this is not the case, I stopped reading things cause so much was pointless. The multiple emails about the D&D style game some employees were playing and things like that, make people like myself, just give up. I think in order for it to work, you have to leave out as much pointless info as possible, even if you (the dev) think its cool or humorous to out in. Too much info like that is just a turn off for a lot of people. Great video as always sir, REALLY hope you check out "Get Even" at some point. The game is basically made for someone like you imo. As for your question, I chose to take his hand, cause in the end, ALL life wants to continue and I had no reason to try and alter that fact.

[@mmohler919]

i think you should check out NOITA, its a game entirely based around alchemy, and has quite a few alchemical text references

[@alexdenton6586]

It doesn't surprise me, I don't know if I understood correctly but it was made by French people so if it's true it doesn't surprise me that the game is a very different approach from what we usually see In any case, it's been a long time since I played a game like this, I must have finished it four or five times at least

[@nomercy8989]

Calling immersive sims immersive simulations is like calling PS4 Pro PS4 Professional. It just doesn't sound right

[@kseniav586]

Thanks for a great video. I don't enjoy immersive sims and really hate space games, so the fact I finished and loved it is really saying something. Loved the environmental storytelling and the ethical choices.

[@ducksauce2696]

Prey was the sequel to System Shock 2 that Irrational Games never gave me and I love Arcane Studios for that! I love BioShock but I just wish there was more depth to the gameplay. Luckily Prey provided.

[@Mylesperhour20]

This was kinda cringe. I can’t believe you said ”chaos incarnate” completely unironically

[@MGrey-qb5xz]

the whole lore in boring ass texts and lack of any enemy variety and design just makes for an overall boring ass experience ,it had potential but they just got stuck on one gimmick and made the entire game around that

[@StubbsDK]

I looooved every second of Prey! Being denied a new BioShock and System Shock game, this seriously scratched that itch for me!! Still sad we never got the sequel to the original Prey, that game deserved a lot more as well! But I could see them expand upon this one, not in a direct sequel, more like with the BioShock games, the potential for stories are there! Hopefully we dont have to wait long for the System Shock remake now, and BioShock 4 is somewhere on the horizon, as well as System Shock 3 and a potential System Shock 2 remake, so heres to hoping!!

[@sheezy2526]

Games like Prey isn't for everyone coz it is not made to appeal to the lowest common denominator like most AAA games do.

[@krt8205]

Before i watch i just want to say both A. Agree this game is underrated as all hell But also B. This game suffers from some horrible glitches and has a bit too much bacltracking thag took me out of it in the late game for a bit. But over all still fantastic

[@jordonhodges8493]

i really love prey and i think that the reason that the combat is not fluid is because unlike in doom or call of duty you are not a trained soldier you are just a normal guy who pushed into this mess

[@maxturbo45]

Hey Max, if you decide to go back into Quiet Mountain [2], I have a questionable theory; Who is Laura? [Personally] I believe that Laura is Jamie's innocence, like Triangle Hat, she is guiding him to the end goal, while also signifying to Jame that the innocence of his actions can lead him to dangerous places, like when Laura traps James in the hospital kitchen...

[@jon-umber]

Maybe in 2017 Prey was underrated, but it's definitely not anymore.

[@crozraven]

Well, I just wanted a good peaceful ending for the outcomes LOL

[@mercenarygundam1487]

Can't wait for the Suffering: Prison is Hell and Ties that Bind this October.

[@frankyboi999]

Please oh please analyse Xenosaga.

[@mynameisozymandias7150]

You should really play the MARATHON trilogy.

[@davidc6836]

I finished it two times...this is just an incredible game!!

[@MattheBrawler]

I think the reason that story being told this way works here because the story is ultimately about a Typhon learning to empathize. You have to make the conscious choice to find out more. You have to care enough about the people in this world to find out more. If you dont look for hints about whats going on, you dont care enough for it to matter anyway.

[@holidayinn4293]

I guess. For me that's the worst part of this game is the ending. It felt cliche and lazy doing yet another it's a simulation not real endings in yet another film, book, or game. It also leaves a cheap feel to the actual consequences of your actions. As in there are none because...it's a simulation. I think a grounded ending would have worked better in this game but it's too late now.

[@Zypheit]

I saved during the post credits scene so that I could see how both endings went. I did choose cooperation as part of the contiguous playthrough, whatever that may imply.

[@bratpfanne8232]

Best filler until Starfields official release. It is a lot of fun.

[@macheifach]

The level design was horrible, it so often broke immersion that it got just tedious and the graphical style was aesthetically repulsive.

[@czarkowskipawelyt]

Why are you talking about Ocarina of Time in the comment section of a video about Prey?

[@Legather]

Some insightful points on the story I hadn't considered but hard disagree on the claim that Prey doesn't do anything to advance the gameplay of the ImSim. To me Prey is The definitive ImSim, the capacity for the player to choose their approach to the various problems in the game is unmatched in my experience. Truly, the two areas that are ripe for critique are the lack of enemy variety and the choice of the name Prey. Oh and I took his hand.

[@ClarkKentai]

I'm reminded of the Helios ending in Deus Ex. "The barriers between us have fallen, and we have become our own shadows. We are our choices."

[@brauliodiaz3925]

I loved this game but barely remembered anything of the story when watching the video. The presentation is surely lacking and I actually really liked playing the logs in this game. The perfect moment is that line. You’re in outer space and you can probably don’t even notice the line if you’re already exploring with the oxygen running out. It’s one of my favorite games of the last gen, but it was purely based on the gameplay experience. Now I remember doing both killing and shaking the hand for the achievement. What does that say about me? Hahahahah

[@babaspector]

I absolutely loved the ending. I read and listened to everything on the station multiple times. By the time I got to the ending, it was one of the possibilities I had considered. When I listened to the project cobalt recording I had chills down my spine. Masterpiece of a game IMO. I'm also glad there's more people like me (and you as it seems) who can so deeply immerse themselves into a game like this. EDIT: Just remembered I could even notice something was very off at the beginning, because the developers added so many small details exactly for that to be possible. You can see marks on the floor where the wall rotates. I stopped in front of the wall and stared at it for a like a minute trying to figure out what was the deal with it. Anyways, top 3 games for me probably.

[@doublepipe.]

Until you just said it I never realized that "you" play as "Yu". It's such an obvious pun that I did not even notice it

[@FiliusFidelis]

Loved this game, and there are few I do really like, quite a few of them has been games you've talked about in fact. As for the Ending, it made me thirsty for more, feel want for a sequel where I cold explore "The Real World as it Exists Today"

[@n1lla]

Yeah, sadly with it not really being successful it does not seem like we'll get a sequel anyime soon (if ever). Mooncrash was nice though.

[@Colin-bowser]

Sum up prey in 1 sentence: prop hunt on coke

[@n1lla]

I have recently been replaying this to get some of the achievements like 'No Needles' and 'Split Affinity'. Loved it then. Loved Mooncrash, and now enjoying it again after several years away.

[@charleshorseman55]

If you're using bioshock as a template for a game's quality, you're already running with half-legs and sand in your eyes.

[@maxderrat]

I don’t know, man… you might not have liked it, and that’s cool. Everybody dislikes at least one game that everyone loves. Bioshock is still widely recognized as a classic.

[@charleshorseman55]

@@maxderrat I just played through them (1+2, I can honestly say I slept on them a bit.) I have to say however, there is something to the FOV and art style with these Arkane games that reminds me of the original Wolfenstein. Like looking through a convex glass, and everyone is some sort of cartoon.

[@antoniosimonetti7802]

The answer is: "Yes it is". The reviews for this game showed how bad and misinformed the sector's critics are. One I remeber, for an important brand, stated right at the beginning that the game was a First Person Shooter. You read it right. Prey 2017 was a FPS.

[@hardyhologram]

Great vid Max. I agree Prey does have tons of problems that are subjective to criticism but I always look for what a game strives to do best at it and Prey does give a good take on immersive sims.

[@TheMagnificentGman]

I still haven't played this yet 😏

[@Jake-mv7kn]

To be honest, I think that the reason this game is special is because of the gameplay. I remember Warren spector saying something about deus ex, expressing concern about the reception of the game from critics. he knew that the shooting couldn’t be compared to half-life, the stealth to theif, and the graphical fidelity was at the time lacking compared to other games. What makes these games special is the ability for those systems to interact and overlap on top of a densely simulated world. I think prey does do this the best. It still hasn’t been topped. some of the solutions to the obstacles you were faced with are frankly ridiculous.

[@dj_johanna_joy]

One of the best games i have played in my life! It has everything to grab you and take you away for days....

[@DaminionC]

best bethesda game in a long time

[@oldtimercomputer8426]

2024 i just finished this GEM! boughz it coz i thought its updated Prey 3d shooter, but its SO much more. HL2, Systemshock , F.E.A.R. and even some "Descent" ( in outerspace or zerogravity) flashbacks. but that unexpected ending after the outro kickd me out of the socks.. i was the humanfriendly, non typhon neuromod empath player, using gunturrets and wrench a lot. i recommend it to anyone who loved HL2 Systemshock2, Alien or similar games..

[@TheRoboticFerret]

one reason I think Prey's ending works so well is that it isn't just an "it was all a dream" moment. I mean, the events the player character Typhon goes through really did happen in the game's world, to the "real" Morgan Yu. I adore Prey and how much it has to say - or rather ask - about the nature of reality and perception.