Although the box art says it’s PS4 Pro Enhanced, Digital Foundry “could find no improvements whatsoever” with Prey on PlayStation 4 Pro when they tested it earlier this month. With Prey update 1.04 though, which is now available on PS4, Arkane Studios has added that promised PS4 Pro support.
As you can see from the patch notes, Prey now features higher quality shadows, improved texture appearance, improved visual fidelity, and more on PS4 Pro. Additionally, update 1.04 includes further fixes for input drift:
PS4 Pro Support
- Enable Screen-Space Reflections
- Higher quality shadows
- Improved texture appearance
- More texture memory (stable streaming)
- Anisotropy 16x (from 4x)
- Improved visual fidelity
- Less LOD usage
- Dynamic lights show up further
- Particles are allowed to draw more pixels per effect
- Particle refraction enabled
General
- Additional fixes for PS4 input drift
- Glooing Cook between objectives no longer breaks mission
- ‘Nightmare is Hunting You’ no longer plays after completing ‘Copy Protection’ without Typhon Neuromods installed
- Disgruntled Employee mission now properly completes if player finds Grant Lockwood prior to getting mission.
- Sarah Elazar will now give the code for Cargo Bay B if player has hostility from Phantoms
- Aaron Ingram will no longer flee and cower when released in Psychotronics
- Player can no longer lock themselves in the security pharmaceuticals office in Trauma
- Superfruit no longer appears shrunken and flat when fully grown.
- Adjusted timing on several cutscenes.
- Blank objective markers no longer persist above reticle
- Using key actions while controller prompts are shown will no longer cause a freeze.
- Tracking bracelets are now sent to Recycler with “Transfer all Junk”
Previously, Bethesda said Prey included “base requirements” for PS4 Pro.
This update is expected to hit PC and Xbox One shortly.
If you’re looking to buy Prey (our review), it’s currently on sale for $40 at Target.
[Source: Bethesda (1), (2), Prey Game, Reddit, Eurogamer]
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.
