[VIDEO PREVIEW] PREY. Du nouveau dans le FPS ?

May 27, 2005 - Heading into E3 2005, there were a few select games we simply could not miss. Human Head Studios' Prey, which landed on our vaunted AAA list, was one of those. The PC and Xbox 360 first-person shooter, revived from a nearly seven-year death sentence, has been resurrected, reborn, or re-animated into a completely new game (retaining some bits and pieces from the original concept), and from the looks of the E3 demo, what a game it is.

While at E3, we had the chance to see the exhilarating 10-minute, behind-closed-doors demonstration, and just about everything in it wowed us -- the graphics, sound, gameplay, presentation, you name it. Prey takes the DOOM 3 engine and fills it with a wild color palette. It delivers gorgeous natural lighting. And it offers up intriguing and compelling level design. Oh, and there are those kick-ass monsters, brilliant gun fights, and super creepy moments of alien invasion, too. But who cares about that stuff, right? This is the new generation, the "Hollywood Generation." It's all about marketing and perception, baby.

…What am I saying….? Damn you, E3!

We had the chance to speak with Human Head Studios' Project Lead Chris Rhinehart and Art Director Rowan Atalla about the game's basis, back story, and lead character:


IGN: We're glad game designers aren't following the American TV premise that all lead characters have to be straight white males. Why did you chose a Native American, and what are the implications of his heredity in the story?

Chris Rhinehart: We chose the Cherokee because they have a fascinating mythology and are a proud people, despite an incredible amount of hardship and strife. One of the themes of the story is about Tommy, the protagonist of Prey, rediscovering and accepting this heritage.

Tommy is an average guy. He's working a dead-end job, he's stuck on a reservation that he hates. He has rejected the beliefs of his people. His girlfriend, Jenny, is the one thing keeping him from leaving.

He's not the average square-jawed hero who is there to save the day. When Tommy and Jenny are abducted by the alien ship, Tommy is only concerned with finding her and getting the hell off the ship, not about trying to stop the aliens from destroying the planet.

Hence the tag line: Earth's Savior Doesn't Want the Job.

IGN: Another one of your games, Rune, was a solid, fun game based on Norse mythology. Are all your games based on some ancient mythology? What makes the story writer or writers at Human Head chose such interesting mythologies and religions to base your stories?

Chris: No, all of our games aren't necessarily based upon an ancient mythology. But starting with a mythology gives us a back story to generate ideas for the game. It also helps bring people into the story faster, when they have some knowledge of the mythology. Everyone is at least somewhat aware of the history of Native Americans and of Vikings.

IGN: Fair enough. What did you learn from Rune that is helping you make this a better, deeper, and more involving title?

Chris: Two big lessons from Rune: Prototype gameplay early, and front-load the game with interesting things.

On Rune, we didn't get some major gameplay features finished until pretty late in the project. Not only did we not know if those features would even work, but that didn't allow us to come up with other ideas building off those features.

On Prey, we prototyped some of our major gameplay systems immediately: wallwalking, dynamic gravity, and spiritwalking. When those were in and working well, it opened up a lot of other ideas for other gameplay types, and we've had the time to implement those other ideas.

One of the biggest criticisms we received from Rune was that the most interesting part of the game was in the middle, when the player starts to fight other Vikings. We didn't include enough cool stuff at the start of the game.

In Prey, there is an great density of gameplay throughout its entirety, so not only is the start of the game interesting, but the player will constantly be seeing new and cool stuff throughout.

IGN: What will be the differences between the Xbox 360 and PC versions in gameplay and graphics, if any?

Chris: We haven't yet finalized the differences between the Xbox360 and the PC versions.

IGN: The PC and Xbox have seen a lot of first-person shooters. What will make this one stand out? And why? What unique hooks are you conjuring up?

Chris: Prey will stand out because it's not just another FPS. We've spent a considerable amount of time coming up with new gameplay to enhance the experience. It isn't just a run-and-gun game. There are lots of great puzzles and challenges to overcome.

Prey's unique gameplay and hooks:

• An interesting main character and a strong story that is woven into the gameplay
  
• Portals: This was the biggest feature of Prey back in 1997, and we still have portals in the game. Portals are essentially rips in space which allow you to step from one location to another instantly. They also allow us to do crazy things like "tardis-like" rooms, where the room appears small on the outside but has a huge space on the inside.
  
• SpiritWalking, which allows the player to leave their body for a brief period of time and walk through force fields, lasers, fire, and enemies are less likely to notice you in this mode.
  
• Navigation Challenges: Walking on walls and dynamic gravity changes, which makes for an interesting time exploring the levels and also allows for some very unique combat (fighting creatures when you're upside down!)
  
• DeathWalk: When you die, you go to a separate plane of existence where you have to battle your way back to the land of the living. If you succeed, you are brought back exactly where you died so you can continue playing. It's quick, fun, and faster than reloading your last save game.
  
• And of course, since it IS a shooter, a lot of time has been spent creating and refining the weapons and creatures.
  

IGN: Nice. In a slightly different mode of thinking, was H.P. Lovecraft an influence on the ship and creature design? If not, where did your ideas originate?

Rowan Atalla: : Our creature design is probably more influenced by Clive Barker than by H.P. Lovecraft. The ship designs draw on a wide variety of influences, including (in no particular order) Geof Darrow's work on The Matrix, Frank Miller's Ronin, the work of Craig Mullins, Feng Zhu, Syd Mead, Masamune Shirow, and of course, H.R. Giger. We also derived a certain amount of material from studying anatomical photos of a huge array of tissues and organs, both healthy and diseased.

IGN: What is the concept behind the alien ship? Is it a living creature, or a hive creature? And what does it want from the people on Earth?

Chris: The ship is a Dyson Sphere, meaning the ship is a large, hollow sphere with a small sun at the center. The ship is organic and has grown around the various structures created by the inhabitants. There are plenty of places throughout the game where the flesh has grown and pushed through walls and floors. The inhabitants have a symbiotic relationship with the ship -- it provides them with a living space, heat and light. They provide the ship with food.

What does the Sphere want from the people of Earth? Can't say much without giving the story away, but it wants people for food and for experimentation.

IGN: What will the progression scheme be like in the game? Is it a seamless progression? Will there be levels with ratings at the end of each?

Chris: The game is divided into separate levels, during which we will be giving the player more information about the story and what awaits them on the next level. Other than level loading, we have designed the game to be very immersive: the camera never leaves first-person view; the story is told around you via scripted sequences and dialogue without taking away control; even DeathWalk was designed to keep you in the game instead of having to reload your last save when you die.

IGN: What kind of mechanical puzzles should we expect to see and experience? Will the game be much like Rune in this regard, or different?

Chris: Rune had a lot of "find-the-switch-to-open-the-door" type of puzzles. We're trying to avoid those in Prey. Our puzzles are based around the gameplay systems (such as portals, spiritwalk, wallwalk, etc). For example, in one puzzle you have to wallwalk up onto the ceiling. You then spiritwalk (leaving your body upside-down on the platform) then walk through a force field so you can activate the platform, which carries your body across a chasm. The E3 2005 video shows off this puzzle.

IGN: I realize you don't want to talk about the technological differences or the Xbox 360's innards this early in the game, so let me step up and ask you something really important. Do the aliens stick probes in unwelcome places when you die?

Chris: Ha. Well, not when you die, but there are alien probes in the game...

IGN: I knew it! Thanks for your time and good luck on the game!

Chris: Thank you!

Débuté en 1995, le développement de Prey avait subi bien des déboires, suffisamment en tout cas pour pousser 3D Realms à mettre le jeu, ses promesses techniques et son héros en veilleuse pendant quelque temps. Une mise au placard un peu longue qui aura finalement eu du bon : confié à Human Head Studios il y a quelques années, le titre tout récemment ré-annoncé a acquis en une seule journée d'E3 une solide réputation, éclipsant en termes de bouche-à-oreille la plupart des autres FPS du salon. La démonstration du jeu, effectuée dans un petit bunker mis sur pied sur le stand ATI, suffit à expliquer cet engouement.