As a massive fan of the movie Aliens, Prey delivers that same feeling of creepy alien terror in an isolated, claustrophobic environment. The main story Is intriguing, and there are plenty of optional side missions to undertake too. Some solutions to the missions require a bit of hunting and backtracking, which can sometimes be tedious, but overall, I did find them very satisfying to complete. On my first playthrough, I did all of the missions that I could find and it brought my total game time to around 40 hours. However, if you wish to complete the game in its entirety (all achievements), it will take a lot of work (I did it in around 115 hours, but that includes Mooncrash too).

Graphically, there is so much to admire here. I bought the accompanying Prey art book, and the amount of time, effort and attention to detail the developers put into this game is phenomenal. The environments are expansive, varied and interesting. The aliens are creepy, diverse and plentiful, with some familiar nods to the classics. Mimics bear a striking similarity to facehuggers, for example, but are definitely “inspired by” rather than just simply “copied”.

Sound design is top-notch, and has the ability to set the player on edge. Subtle things like doors sounding very similar to the aliens, or a sudden public address system announcement, will have you jumping out of your seat. I would even go so far as to say that the sounds of the aliens themselves are far superior to the Aliens movies.

The best thing about Prey, however, has to be the atmosphere it creates. Remember, in Aliens, when Ripley has to go back into the bowels of the reactor on LV-426 to save Newt? The station is falling apart, overrun by aliens and the odds are stacked against her? Well, there are moments in Prey that are exactly like that. Same vibe, same excitement, same terror.

On the positive side:

+ The story is outstanding
+ Immersive voice acting
+ Vast and interesting level designs
+ Great graphics
+ Great audio
+ Spooky dystopian atmosphere
+ Multiple paths, choices and endings

On the negative side:

- Combat can sometimes be tedious and frustrating
- Audio cut scenes can play over each other or play over combat, making them hard to hear
- I experienced around 10 random crashes, one of which corrupted my latest save
- Awkward lift/carry/place mechanics
- Too much required reading e.g. having to read through all terminals so vital information is not missed

Definitely one of my favourite games, and I recommend it to any fan of the genre. All things considered, I would give Prey a solid 9.5 out of 10.