When it comes to developing a sequel to a property not many gamers are familiar with there are two roads to travel: reinvigorating the concepts from the first title that made the game a hidden gem or taking an intriguing property and reinventing it to appeal to today’s audiences.
Choosing the latter strategy, Human Head Studios, developer on Prey 2, sequel to the Native American inspired shooter Prey, have revealed they are ditching some of the original’s more inventive mechanics — namely its use of gravity-defying portal puzzles.
Not an integral part to the Prey mythos — but certainly one of its selling points — the portals were an inventive way with which the player could play with gravity on the alien spaceship. For those who haven’t played the first Prey, think the revolving hotel in Inception, only if gravity kept you upside down or sideways rather than constantly shifting.
Lead Designer on Prey 2, Chris Reinhart, does acknowledge that the development team looked into including the portals, but ultimately found them to be working against this sequel’s milieu.
Perhaps not interested in keeping many of the elements of Prey that were a pleasant distraction for gamers, Human Head Studios seems to be going back to the drawing board. Sure, there are elements from this title that will bare some resemblance to the first, but this is a whole new story told from a completely new perspective — all bets are off.
“We explored a lot of the ways you could use portals and gravity in combat, and I really wanted to shift away from making it too much of a puzzle game. Portals and gravity were the functions of The Sphere [the mothership in the original game]. And The Sphere’s gone.”
While the portal element that was new and inventive in the first game might be gone, that doesn’t mean that innovation is lost from the Prey series. Based on an article taken from a recent issue of Game Reactor, gamers learned that the storyline of this sequel would allow players to use free running mechanics in a style similar to what was seen in Mirror’s Edge.
Gamers will also have access to several supernatural powers — those possessed by the aliens in the first game — as they assume the role of bounty hunter Killian Samuels in a storyline that runs parallel to the first game’s events.
Zenimax Media is slowly building buzz for Prey 2, dropping little hints here and there to tease Prey fans, but also giving off the sense that playing Prey 2 is a solitary experience. As an underrated title that explored some interesting concepts and utilized some compelling game mechanics, Prey is worth playing if you have never heard of it. Unfortunately, we can’t say that it will help you understand this sequel any better.
Are there any gamers out there who played the first Prey and are sad to see the puzzles and the portals done away with? Any gamers unfamiliar with the series intrigued by what they have seen and heard so far?
Prey 2 is slated for 2012 on the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.
Source: Beef Jack
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