An esoteric review of the video game “Prey” (X-BOX, PS4, PC)
by Mr. Drobot
SPOILERS AHEAD (ABOUT SPACE)
Hailing from the virtual reality geniuses over at Bethesda & Arkane Studios, the “Prey” reboot features some of the smoothest and creepiest interactions to date when it comes to blurring the pixels between art and immersion into a realistic alternate surrounding. For gamers passionate about the Fall Out, Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Doom, Deus Ex, Metroid, or Dishonored series... this one is a must play for a cutting edge view into the predictive programming that questions Transhumanism, The Mandela Effect, “The Matrix,” and whether we’re all just specimens in a marvelous yet disturbing experiment.
“Prey” features a dystopian perspective on an alternate timeline where John F. Kennedy survives the attempted assassination and is passionately driven to send the space program beyond any preconceived limits. Sound familiar? Like most adventure plots, the starting goal is to suspend disbelief while attaching culture or a current agenda to give the viewer a sense of comfort and something to relate to.
It all starts where you choose the gender of Morgan Yu (catchy last name) and wake up in the bed of a kush apartment with a beautiful view and lavish materials that would hint at a wealthy lifestyle. While acquainting you the the tutorial of the controls, Yu is beckoned to work where a daily test is to be performed. Like most dialogue choices and tests now, every decision is essentially a psyche evaluation that determines the overall ending based on how you perform or react, similar to the karmic reality that we all experience. Without giving away a stellar spoiler within twenty minutes of playing, Yu eventually discovers that “mimics” have taken over the TRANSTAR.
What is the Transtar you ask? Well if you guessed Chaz Bono or Caitlyn Jenner, very funny. It’s a futuristic version of the ISS mixed with the ideas behind Elysium, where a fully functioning space ship capable of plant growth and AI homeostasis can magically occur. The Unreal Engine (which is a fitting name for the graphics program used in “Prey” and most polished games now) make recycling spare parts of picked up materials within the game in order to be 3D printed into needed supplies surprisingly fun and it’s equivalent to a futuristic form of alchemy. Compile enough materials, and you can 3D print a Neuromod™…a technologically advanced syringe that is injected needle first into the eye capable of downloading skills into Yu. Watch out Neo…“I know Kung fu.”
Remember the recent suspenseful thriller “Life” where Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Van Wilder (Ryan Reynolds) are aboard the ISS where alien homunculi invade? Weeell, that’s kind of what “mimics” are like that infiltrate The Transtar. They portray an archonic energy capable of forming Power Rangers-style to create stronger forms of destructible chaos. They can possess organic matter (humans) and even take on inorganic matter (chairs, cups, computers) which makes gameplay rather exciting because it allows for situations where you’ll literally jump out of your seat because a seat jumped out at you. Yu even acquires a scanner that has Yu looking like The Cyclops in order to retrieve and catalogue information. One eye symbolism, anyone?
"Prey” is a modern day “Space Invaders”
After wandering the sections of the Transtar that you’re able to open through puzzle solving, it’s discovered that mimics can transcend time and space by dipping in and out of alternate dimensions. Think Nightcrawler from X-Men where he’s able to transport here and there via wormholes in and out of “Hell.” Comparable to the plot in Deus Ex where a Great War breaks out due to people resisting modifications and augmentations which cause enhanced vision or steel arms like Jax (Mortal Kombat) in exchange for their soul… Yu has the ability to have a symbiotic relationship with the mimics and take on their powers at the price of becoming less “human.” Eerily enough, it’s a great spin on the beast system and how various forms of “the mark” could already occur in our very lives. Some of the enemies come straight out of Stephen King’s nightmares. Others, like the Typhon (a giant one eyed floating monster) give a nostalgic kickback to video games and archetypes of the past.
As you navigate around the ship, sci-fi fantasies like air lock doorways and finding a personal propeller to get through “anti-gravity” sections of the ship slowly indoctrinate and further incorporate the idea of what space travel “would be like.” While having the mod to turn into a coffee cup in order to slip though a tiny crack for loot seems cool, it’s a subliminal nudge that if you start taking on these alien adaptations, then you might be the very thing that ends up destroying the Transtar. Through various terminals, transcribes, and notes left behind, it’s appearing that the Transtar would’ve been completely sustainable and even feel like a city safely in the sky if it wasn't for those pesky enemies!
While my first comparison of the Transtar was initially The ISS, after reading notes on how the members aboard would confuse it with life on Earth due to how stable it was, it’s obvious that the propaganda is heavily geared towards Heliocentrism. Life upon the floating habitat was somehow possible, until dark forces destroyed it. Could this be an advanced and somewhat desperate attempt to sway gamers of all ages into assuming that we live on a spinning wet meteor in space despite any evidence of Earth actually moving? If I was to compare it to other games, especially the recently released "No Man's Sky," "Mass Effect: Andromeda," and an upcoming VR game titled "Farpoint" that places you on a realistic idea of Mars... then I would have to say: Yes.
