With certain retailers breaking the May 5 street date early, Gadgets 360 was able to obtain a copy of Prey for PlayStation 4, and they learned that the day one update is a 1.3GB download.
As you can see from the patch notes for Prey update 1.01, Arkane Studios has fixed several frame-rate and save/load bugs, fixed several crashes, fixed audio issues, adjusted enemies and powers, and more (potential spoilers ahead):
Game
- Hacking minigame will now properly display what object is being hacked in the UI
- Players can now split stacks when looking at container inventories
- Various fixes to behaviours when player mimics an operator
- Localised versions of the game now support switching VO to English
- Killing Mikhaila with the Q-Beam now only counts as one human killed
- Quickload loads the most recent save of an type, not just auto-save
- Addressed several frame-rate bugs
- Addressed several save/load bugs
- Several crash fixes
- Various mission and objective marker fixes
- Various localised text and audio fixes
- Various SFX fixes
- Various VFX fixes
Enemies
- Phantom corpses will now have proper names if they were NPCs that were turned into phantoms.
- Cystoids and cystoid nests now react appropriately to fast-moving objects
- Explosive containers will now explode when thrown at technopaths
- Nightmare will no longer camp objects the player has turned into in front of it
- Operators can no longer occasionally shoot through walls
- AI adjusts for difficulty level more effectively
- Multiple telepaths in an area no longer chain attacks on the player
Weapons
- Touching placed grenades while mimicked will no longer cause them to explode
- Boltcaster can no longer cause zero-damage critical hits
- Nullwave Transmitter now works on Apex tendrils
- Technopath can now be hit by sneak attacks with the stun gun
- Grenades are now affected by lift fields
- Dropped weapons will now re-equip to favourites wheel when picked up
- Recycler grenade damage now properly scales with difficulty level
- Gloo Gun no longer loses functionality after placing too many gloo balls in a level
Powers
- Various fixes to Mimic Matter ability
- Player can now open EMP’d doors with their leverage abilities
- Backlash now properly prevents suit damage while active
- Player’s attacks will no longer consume Backlash charges
- Objects targeted by Lift field will be highlighted properly
- Remote Manipulation can now be used to open most containers
Chipsets
- Beam Shielding chipset now properly reduces damage from military operators
- Updated Mimic Detection Gen 2 chipset description to include all mimic types
Player
- Military operator effects fixed for first-person view
- Players are now affected by electric floors/water while jumping
- Telepath will no longer knock player out of the world in Crew Quarters
- Player will no longer fall out of the world when gravity is restored when they’re upside down
- Players can now carry destroyed operators properly in Zero-G
The Prey demo is now live on the PlayStation Store.
As Bethesda revealed last week, review copies of Prey won’t be sent out until Thursday.
[Source: Gadgets 360 via VG247]
Prey info dump
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Prey - EYNTK
Welcome aboard Talos I, Morgan. But before your story begins to unfold, let's recap everything you need to know about Prey.
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What is Prey?
It's neither a sequel nor a remake, but rather a reimagining of the concept that was sentenced to development hell circa 2011. Bethesda officially pulled the plug three years later, but with Dishonored dev Arkane Studios in the driving seat, Prey is best described as a sci-fi horror title that straddles the line between BioShock and Alien: Isolation.
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What's the Story?
Prey 2 was initially hatched as a direct sequel to the Prey of 2006, and started incubating in development over at Human Head Studios around 2011. Alas, the project slipped into development limbo soon after the IP was bumped from 3D Realms to Bethesda Softworks. Human Head's sequel/space oddity was formally canned in 2014.
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But What's the ACTUAL Story?
As for the narrative itself, Bethesda's official description of Prey reads as so:
"In Prey, you awaken aboard Talos I, a space station orbiting the moon in the year 2032. You are the key subject of an experiment meant to alter humanity forever – but things have gone terribly wrong. The space station has been overrun by hostile aliens and you are now being hunted. As you dig into the dark secrets of Talos I and your own past, you must survive using the tools found on the station — your wits, weapons, and mind-bending abilities. The fate of the Talos I and everyone aboard is in your hands."
It'll reportedly take anywhere between 16 and 22 hours to beat, depending on your playstyle, and we know that Prey will feature multiple endings.
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Neither Remake Nor Sequel
Prey is neither a remake nor a sequel. So what is it, exactly? Leave it to Game Director Raphael Colantonio to clue you in.
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Meet Morgan Yu
Considering that Prey's story features "tons of little permutations" based on specific events, no two Morgans will be the same.
"As Morgan Yu, set out to unravel the clues you’ve left behind for yourself, and discover the truth about your past. What role will you play in TranStar’s plans, and the mysterious threat ravaging the station?"
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Welcome Aboard Talos I
Most, if not all of Prey's story will unfold on board the Talos I space station, a man-made satellite that was initially pitched as a co-venture between the United States and the U.S.S.R. to imprison (and indeed study) the alien Typhon.
"Orbiting the Moon, the Talos I space station symbolizes the height of private space enterprise. Explore a lavish craft designed to reflect corporate luxury of the 1960s, and navigate interconnected, non-linear pathways built to hide countless secrets."
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The TranStar Corporation
What's a sci-fi story without a shady corporation poking and prodding at the rules of nature?
In Prey, that title belongs to TranStar Corporation, a private conglomerate that seizes control of the Talos I research facility soon after the fall of the Soviet Union.
"In the alternate future of Prey, President Kennedy survives the assassination, which sets off a turn of events leading to the central conflict. After recovering from the attempt on his life, Kennedy threw his nation further into the space race by taking control of a U.S./Russian joint program and transforming a Russian satellite into a fully functional R&D facility meant to study non-terrestrials. This facility later became Talos I, a highly advanced space station owned by the TranStar Corporation.
"After awakening on Talos I, Morgan finds the station overrun by a previously contained non-terrestrial entity called Typhon, which the scientists had been studying and using to improve the scope of human abilities. Aided by strange alien-based powers, Morgan must survive the incursion, uncover the mysteries surrounding the Typhon and save humanity from the impending danger aboard the station."
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An Alien Nemesis Known as the Typhon
Soon after JFK galvanized space exploration, humanity's presence in the cosmos drew some unwanted attention from an extra-terrestrial species known as the Typhon.
At first, thanks to the Talos I research facility, American and the Soviet Union are able to contain the aliens, but once TranStar becomes involved, the shit begins hurling toward the fan.
From the Mimic to the Phantom, there's plenty of nightmare fuel to be found under the hood of Prey.
"Aliens have escaped containment, dead bodies now litter the hallways of the Talos I space station, survivors are huddled together for safety, and the Typhon aliens are threatening to destroy everything you hold dear. As Morgan, you’ll have to fight the invasion in order to save humanity. But it all begins with what should have been a typical first day on the job for Morgan. And now you can experience the game’s thrilling first hour in the console-exclusive demo for Prey."
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A Touch of Player Freedom
After selecting the gender of your Morgan Wu, Prey will lend players the chance to mould their chosen avatar as they deem fit.
It's all part of Arkane's strategy to instil a sense of player freedom, with Creative Director Raphael Colantonio revealing that, "the theme of identity is central to Prey. Who is Morgan Yu exactly? We want to give you the freedom of being a man or a woman, but we also don’t want to limit who you become when you make that choice."
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Weapons and Gear
To fight against the Typhon, you'll need to come packing the correct arsenal, and thankfully Prey features a diverse collection of weapons and gear. The protagonist Morgan can be upgraded, too.
"With 24 human upgrades and 20 unique alien powers to choose from (plus all of their upgrades), no two Morgans will be the same, and no two players will have the same experiences in Prey. Along with the human abilities like Hacking, Leverage, Repair, and Gunsmith – all of which enhance Morgan’s innate strengths – you will have access to three distinct trees of Typhon-based abilities. Of course, there’s some risk when rewarding yourself with these amazing alien abilities. As you install alien powers, the turrets on the station will view you as a hostile entity, and you will increasingly run the risk of being targeted and hunted by the massive Nightmare Typhon. But with (sometimes literally) mind-bending abilities like these, we’ve got to say the risk is definitely worth it."
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Console-Exclusive Demo
Aptly dubbed Opening Hour, the Prey demo is available to download right now across PS4 and Xbox One. It weighs in at around 13.8GB in size, with the official description reading as so:
"The Prey Demo: Opening Hour puts you in the role of Morgan Yu, lead scientist aboard Talos I, working on a scientific breakthrough meant to alter humanity forever. What starts off as an exciting first day of work very quickly takes a dark turn. You find yourself alone on board Talos I, a lavish but abandoned interstellar research facility. Aliens have overrun the station and are hunting down any surviving crew members, including you. Should these creatures reach Earth, life as you know it will end. It’s up to you to uncover the mysteries of Talos I, fight the alien invasion and save humanity."
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Extended Gameplay
Curious to take a peek at Prey in motion? This extended, 35-minute gameplay demo ought to do the trick.
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Multiplayer Would've Required a Bigger Team
Make no mistake, Prey is a single-player experience through and through. But when lead designer Ricardo Bare addressed questions relating to multiplayer, he stressed that adding an online component would've required a bigger dev team.
"Not really. Adding multiplayer to a game is a massive endeavor. Our team would have to be much bigger, or we’d need to take much longer to make the game to support something like that. That’s just not somewhere we wanted to go for Prey."
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A Hefty Digital Download
Prey will come packing a day-one patch, the details of which will be posted in the coming days.
What's more, Bethesda has revealed that the PS4 version of Prey will take up between 38.2GB and 39.5GB, depending on your region.
Future patches and DLC will increase the free space requirements [of 42GB at launch]. The maximum amount of space for save files allocated to the title is 1 gigabyte, with at least 44.05 megabytes of space required to create the profile on first boot, and each save file requiring 10.49 megabytes of space.
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PS4 Input Lag to Be Addressed By Launch
Digital Foundry's in-depth analysis of Prey's console-exclusive demo revealed a technically competent vertical slice.
There are, however, some issues -- specifically when it comes to “controller input on PS4 is sluggish and the game feels very unresponsive as a result making it difficult to deal with enemies.”
"Expect the technical hiccup to be nixed by May 5, but for those of you dabbling with the Prey demo, NeoGAF has uncovered a workaround:
"To address input lag, the fix within the final release in the game changes the raw input curve on the PS4 controller to be more responsive at the low end, and to tweak responsiveness to the center point on the controller (narrowing the dead zone.). The net result is faster/more responsive movement."
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Hands-On Preview
Ahead of his full review, be sure to have a gander at Paulmichael Contreras' glowing Prey preview:
"While some of the Arkane Studios staff was busy developing the excellent Dishonored 2, others were busy working on Prey. There is a coherent direction for this reboot, and it’s looking very promising. While Prey could be described as a mash-up between Half-Life 2, BioShock, Alien: Isolation, and even Portal, it somehow exudes a personality all its own."
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Prey Preview 2.0
Paulmichael Contreras continues to peel back the layers of Prey one preview at a time. And remember, stay tuned for the full review to hit the site in the coming days.
"Based on what we’ve seen with our handful of hours spent with the game, Prey is shaping up to be a great game for those who love open-world first person shooters. With a wide mix of powers and weapons at your disposal, the various ways in which you can dispatch enemies may never get boring. Prey releases on May 5, and rest assured our verdict will be rendered in full with a review coming shortly."
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Trophy List
The Trophy list for Prey is rife with spoilers, so click through at your own discretion. You'll also find that the list of accolades includes a cheeky Trophy named Press Sneak, which is awarded for reading all the emails aboard Talos I.
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Day One Update and Launch Trailer
Weighing in at 1.3 GB on PS4, Arkane Studios has confirmed that Prey's day one update nixes several frame-rate and save/load bugs, fixed several crashes, fixed audio issues, and even adjusted enemies.
There's also word of the game's official launch trailer, which you can find right here.
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The Cosmonaut Shotgun Pack
One of the main pre-order incentives for Prey opens up the exclusive Cosmonaut Shotgun Pack. The details of which are as follows:
"Preorder Prey to receive the exclusive Cosmonaut Shotgun Pack, which includes the Yu family’s heirloom Margrave shotgun and tools to fight threats aboard Talos I: 3 Neuromods you can spend to acquire new abilities, 2 Medkits, a Fabrication plan to create Shotgun Ammo, a starter kit for building tools and weapons, and a unique upgrade to help you preserve your limited resources."
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You Can Pre-Load Right Now
Pre-loading for the PS4 version of Prey will begin at midnight EST on April 28 in North America, and at midnight by territory on April 29 in Europe. It will then unlock at midnight by territory on Friday, May 5.
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Bethesda’s Review Policy Remains the Same
Much like Doom and Dishonored 2 before it, Bethesda has no plans to distribute review copies ahead of time: “Bethesda’s previously outlined policy on distribution of review copies is still in place.”
That means outlets (PSLS included) won’t receive a copy until Thursday, May 4, at which point our own Paulmichael Contreras will be venturing forth into the inky blackness of space on behalf of PSLS.
