Arkane PREY - Arkane's immersive coffee cup transformation sim - now with Mooncrash roguelike mode DLC

[Space Insect]

same engine?

As Dishonored 2.

 

[Morgoth]

same engine?

As Dishonored 2.

PCGH claims it's running on Cryengine.
http://www.pcgames.de/Prey-2017-Spi...Gameplay-Trailer-mit-Cryengine-Power-1203705/

Edit: At the end of the trailer, it does show the Cryengine logo.

 

[insukk]

Not really, Dishonored 2 is running on id Tech, Prey is on Cryengine.

There is also this information from 3 years ago: https://www.vg247.com/2013/10/31/arkane-and-battlecry-studios-using-cryengine-for-new-projects/

 

[Morgoth]

http://www.gameinformer.com/games/p...utting-the-alien-back-in-science-fiction.aspx

Prey
Putting The Alien Back In Science Fiction
QuakeCon 2016

by Andrew Reiner on August 04, 2016 at 05:43 PM
2,765 Views

3

When Arkhane Studios debuted Prey at Bethesda Softworks' E3 press conference earlier this year, few details were given, but the brief footage that was shown was enough to make us sympathize with a character named Morgan Yu. the trailer hammered home the repetition in his life by showing his daily routine numerous times. The one thing that changes day to day is his health. On each subsequent visit to the bathroom, Yu's eye is redder. The last time we see him, it's blood red, and we can see the concern on his face. We then see that he's the subject of some kind of experiment, trapped within a sprawling white chamber. Three silhouetted men view Yu from the window, welcoming him back again. This tease mostly told us that Arkane Studios was doing something dramatically different with the Prey franchise, but we didn't really know what – outside of the brief glimpse of Yu blasting aliens that appeared to be made of smoke and goo.

Just an hour ago, Raphael Colantonio, the president and co-creative director at Arkane Studios, and Ricardo Bare, the lead designer of Prey, took the stage at QuakeCon 2016 to give show attendees an exclusive first look at Prey's gameplay in action. The demo, which ran for roughly seven to eight minutes, again confirmed that Arkane is divorcing itself completely form the original 2006 Prey game created by Human Head Studios. It reminded me of BioShock, partially from the aesthetic of a utopian setting crumbling by playing god, and the player harnessing those destructive powers to be a force in this dangerous, yet beautiful world.

The first shot we see is of Yu awakening on a space station named Talos One that is orbiting our moon. Yu's surroundings are rich: gold statues, gold engraved floor, and the signs of a rich society are all present here, but so are a retro science-fiction design. Everything looks expensive, but it also looks old and from another age. "Because of the open-ended nature of the game, you can pretty much go anywhere on the space station you want," Bare adds. "Right now, our mission is to find a scientist named Doctor Calvino.

Yu who awoke on the floor, and appears to have recently been in a scrap, is equipped with an object that resembles a lead pipe. That's all he has. He turns away from giant bay windows that give a good look at deep space, and accesses a staircase. After ascending a few stairs, a gold trashcan rolls down. Yu nervously swings at it, and makes contact, but the only thing that happens in the trashcan's trajectory is altered. We soon learn that he did this because enemies can turn into ordinary objects. Anything in the environment could be an adversary laying in wait. As terrifying as this sounds, the first enemy we see is a tiny four-legged spider, again appearing to be made of that gooey smoke substance, that Yu easily dispatches of with one swing of his club.

We then get a good look at the aftermath of mankind's experiments on this space station. Human bodies are littered throughout the hallways. A female voice over the loudspeaker brings a red alert warning, which was apparently not heeded fast enough. Yu loots one a body and finds a pistol. "There are many solutions to puzzles," Bare says. "Weapons are one of them, but weapons are rare." The pistol looks fairly ordinary by today's standards, but includes a digital display revealing how much ammo is let. Yu has 10 rounds.

One of which he fires into another trashcan, an action that brings a big laugh from the QuakeCon crowd. This game is apparently going to make us jittery around trashcans. Yu then stumbles upon a regally designed glass case holding a strange looking device, which Bare says is a "Neuromod." Appearing to be an item that players will be tracking down throughout the course of the game, the Neuromod delivers an RPG-like element to the game, allowing players to enhance Yu's traits, such as science, engineering, and security, among a handful of other things. To activate the object, Yu must insert it into his eye, which you see from the game's first-person perspective. The Neuromod is linked to the experiments done on what Colantonio calls "aliens," a varied group that we quickly get a good look at.

The enemy that can transform into things is called a Mimic. The first of which we see is standing bipedal with glowing white eyes and a shimmering black body. We are then treated to a look at a puzzling weapon called the Gloo Cannon, which Bare says has "many many uses." The first shot from the Gloo sprays a foam-like substance on a handful of spiders, immediately freezing all of them in their tracks. Yu then dispatches what appears to be a napalm shot to incinerate all of them.

The search for Calvino comes to a locked door. The only opening a small six-inch hole in a teller's window. Yu uses one of his powers which, like the alien type, is called Mimic. With the power activated, Yu looks at the counter in front of the window and highlights a coffee mug. With the press of a button, he amusingly transforms into the coffee mug. In a rare moment of goofiness in the demo, the mug bounces up and down awkwardly a couple of times, almost looking like it's trying to walk, and then rolls on its side through the opening in the teller's window. Yu then deactivates Mimic to turn into a human again, now in a position to progress deeper into the station.

The Gloo Cannon's foam can also be used for traversal reasons. In one example, Yu sprays foam on a wall diagonally from the floor to a balcony, creating a path he can walk up. In this new area, he uses another power dubbed Kinetic Blast, which creates a disruptive field that slows time around him. He uses the delay wisely, by unloading shotgun blasts into a group of enemies moving like snails.

As the demo goes on, we see different sections of the ship, most in dire need of repairs or cleaning. One such hallway is blocked by gas pipes that have caught fire. Yu again uses the Gloo Cannon's foam to snuff out the flames and create passage for himself. Most bodies he comes across offer loot, although whoever was playing the demo often chose to run past them. Minerals and other things can be collected and united in a device called the Fabricator, which Yu comes across to generate an object of desire. in this case, he needs a Zero G Propulsion System for, you guessed it, space walking.

When he departs the station, we see that its hull is just as beaten up as its interiors. And yes, bodies are floating among the debris. Yu uses the Propulsion system to navigate the exterior of the hull, and reaches an airlock that almost appears to be hidden. It'll be interesting to see just how open this world is, as it looked like Yu could go anywhere in space.

In the new environment Yu's Neuromod for Leverage has been upgraded to level three, allowing him to pick up heavy objects, such as a giant cargo container. More impressively, he tosses it forward with an incredible force, almost looking like The Hulk. In this short demo, we only saw a few powers in play, but they all look like they can be used for multiple functions. Bare says throwing things will allow for passage in certain areas.

The last shot we see is in a giant alien beast, which needs to hunch down a little bit in an area that must have ceilings that are 20-feet-high, sprinting at Yu. Bare says that the sound of upgrading Neuromods can alert enemies like this one.

The demo concluded to a roar of applause from the QuakeCon crowd. I too was impressed by the creative look of the action and powers. Part of me still wants to see what the cancelled Prey 2 would have been, but this new direction by Arkane Studios looks equally as intriguing. Prey is currently slated to launch at an unspecified date in 2017. Put it on your radar, folks. It looks good! You can get a brief look at the gameplay in action in the new trailer.

 

[Infinitron]

Character just looks like a Dishonored one:

Arkane Studios - we do immersive simulation and horse faces

same engine?

As Dishonored 2.

PCGH claims it's running on Cryengine.
http://www.pcgames.de/Prey-2017-Spi...Gameplay-Trailer-mit-Cryengine-Power-1203705/

Edit: At the end of the trailer, it does show the Cryengine logo.

Well well. I stand corrected. Excidium II

 

[The Dutch Ghost]

I like some of the ideas mentioned in this game such as some of the gameplay elements and that the aliens can imitate objects (and perhaps peope), thus setting up this feeling of paranoia. Don't trust your environment.
But still I can not help but think that this game on its own imitates titles like System Shock and Dead Space. Especially the mod system seems to have been taken from Deus Ex and System Shock 2.

Plenty of room of course for titles like that but I really wish they would do something new than this standard sci fi setting.

 

[sexbad?]

The trailer didn't seem like anything all that special, but I would pay for a serious science fiction action game where the protagonist can turn into an object and move around like I'm playing Prop Hunt or something.

 

[Excidium II]

Well well. I stand corrected. Excidium II

Oh interesting. It can definitely handle big open areas.

 

[Morgoth]

This game will give me nightmares flushing toilets.

"Is it a turd? Will it jump at me? Hnnghhhh"

 

[Athelas]

Hopefully the Mimics will really be able to transform into lots of different objects, including things the player will try to pick up like weapons and ammo.

 

[mindx2]

Do we have to always see our hands inspecting every frickin' thing we pick up for 10-15 seconds. Oh... ah... look at the pretty gun as I watch this little animation as it turns this way and that . Gotta admire all those polygons the coders put in there.... . And for all those "gameplay" videos in this thread I've yet to see much... you know, gameplay.

 

[LESS T_T]

 

[Latelistener]

I hope they didn't show everything in this demo, and it has more depth than Bioshock.

Spoiler

Although I'm a bit disappointed with the art direction, as well as the visuals, as it looks almost exactly like Dishonored, and kinda bad for CryEngine.

 

[LESS T_T]

Regarding the canned Prey 2: http://www.gamespot.com/articles/why-prey-2-was-canceled/1100-6442387/

Why Prey 2 Was Canceled

The reveal of Prey at E3 2016 put to rest any lingering hopes of seeing the canceled Prey 2 again. Bethesda marketing VP Pete Hines talked to GameSpot at QuakeCon about the game and explained why it was canned.

"I mean, honestly, it's really not that complicated," Hines said. "It hit a point where it wasn't shaping up to be what we wanted and there didn't seem to be a clear path to get to where we thought it needed to be. We decided the best thing to do was just to not proceed. That's just it."

Hines added that he doesn't think Bethesda will ever go into more details about the situation, as it's all in the past and developer Human Head is working on other projects now.

"I don't want to go through and talk about stuff like, well, he said this and we said that," Hines explained. "I want those guys to have every success and to not have to keep bringing up this thing. Games get canceled. It happens. Marriages go bad. It happens."

Despite not wanting to bring up the past, Hines did contact Human Head co-founder Chris Rhinehart before Bethesda revealed the new Prey at E3. He wanted to give Rhinehart a "heads up" on what was going to happen.

"Again, I want him to be able to do his job and not have to worry about explaining or defending anything," Hines added. "It didn't work out."

It happens, eh?

 

[Latelistener]

It happens

Spoiler

Following Prey 2’s impressive showing at E3 2011, Bethesda, pleased with the team’s work, promised Human Head a development extension of six months to one year – all the time it needed to populate the mostly complete game world with missions, polish what rough edges remained, and ship Prey 2 in 2012 as planned. “That’s when Bethesda decided to play hardball and buy the studio,” said one source familiar with the situation. Another person close to Bethesda and Human Head shared a similar story.

In the following months, a source claimed, "Bethesda denied further funding of the project, and started failing milestones,” asking for changes and fixes without following through on its previous promise to give the team more time. The promise, however, was not inked on the contract, so Bethesda had no legal obligation to fulfill it. In addition, a source said, Bethesda was likely concerned with the "dated planning, tools, and techniques" Human Head was using. Meanwhile, the contract didn’t give the creative team any leverage: Prey 2 was the only game Human Head was legally allowed to develop on its own until the agreement expired -- to fill time and keep the lights on, the studio supported the development BioShock Infinite and Defiance. If it were to ever release, the team needed more cash and time to meet the rising demands to adjust Prey 2, which "needed a lot of work" and was "lackluster" from the publisher's perspective.

Conflict erupted – Human Head asked Bethesda to provide additional time and money, while Bethesda asked Human Head to meet the criteria agreed upon by their existing agreement. At this point, Bethesda "thought they could bully [Human Head] into a corner,” a source said, and the publisher made a move to buy Human Head. “It was one of few studios that could work with and improve id Technology. They wanted to buy us at a sweet price,” but the developer denied the buyout. Human Head didn't want to permanently marry itself to a publisher that was "bleeding Human Head dry." This would limit the studio's ability to work on its own creative endeavors down the line, potentially with other publishers.

In November 2011, in a play to keep Bethesda from purchasing Human Head, and as a result of the contract dispute, development stopped. One source called it a strike. In the following months, Bethesda and Human Head communicated sporadically, “but the conversation was very one sided. The studio made reasonable offers, but nothing came to fruition. Nothing moved in 2012.”

Bethesda appeared to wait out Human Head. The contractual agreement between the two eventually came to term, Bethesda got its game back without spending any more money, and Human Head went on its way – the team is currently working with a new publisher on another open-world game.

 

[Ash]

• Bethesda and ZeniMax have been accused of attempting a failed hostile acquisition of Human Head Studios as well as a successful hostile acquisition of Arkane Studios prior to that.[30]According to a report from IGN Bethesda’s parent company ZeniMax started purposefully failing Human Head’s project milestones so that they wouldn’t get paid and so that ZeniMax could then swoop in and buy the company at a reduced rate. ZeniMax have been accused of doing the same thing with Arkane Studios although in Arkane's case they allegedly gave in and allowed themselves to be bought.[31] The failed hostile acquisition of Human Head Studios is what led to cancellation of Human Head's Prey 2 according to the report.Bethesda's Pete Hines replied to the accusations by saying the following.[32]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethesda_Softworks

Arkane lost to a hostile takeover attempt by Bethesda? Explains a lot, like why they are seemingly fine with adapting the Prey name - they don't have any choice.

And you can expect this to be Bioshock in space, just maybe a little better. That's me signing out.

 

[Sordid MCA/Prosper Hybryd]

It actually partially explains why we are not going to see Fallout: New Vegas 2 from Obsidian. Feargus values the company independence highly.

 

[Latelistener]

Colantonio said that they didn't mind about the acquisition, considering that they were probably close to bankruptcy at that point, when The Crossing was put on hold due to financial troubles. Although, I would be more happy if Valve had bought them instead. They were developing two projects for them, and for some reason nothing came out of it. What a shame.

I have no idea why they shouldn't be fine using the Prey logo on it. This "franchise" is like a chameleon. Even the first iteration of the original game was different from what we got back in 2006, not to say about Prey 2.

 

[hajro]

JUST

FUCK MY SHIT UP

 

[Kem0sabe]

It's a wonder why any outside developers would want to partner with Bethesda, considering their track record.

 

[Morgoth]

It's a wonder why any outside developers would want to partner with Bethesda, considering their track record.

...maybe because they needed teh money?

 

[Morgoth]

I believe these official artworks haven't been posted yet.

Good morning, Morgan. Bad hair day, Morgan?

 

[DosBuster]

• Bethesda and ZeniMax have been accused of attempting a failed hostile acquisition of Human Head Studios as well as a successful hostile acquisition of Arkane Studios prior to that.[30]According to a report from IGN Bethesda’s parent company ZeniMax started purposefully failing Human Head’s project milestones so that they wouldn’t get paid and so that ZeniMax could then swoop in and buy the company at a reduced rate. ZeniMax have been accused of doing the same thing with Arkane Studios although in Arkane's case they allegedly gave in and allowed themselves to be bought.[31] The failed hostile acquisition of Human Head Studios is what led to cancellation of Human Head's Prey 2 according to the report.Bethesda's Pete Hines replied to the accusations by saying the following.[32]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethesda_Softworks

Arkane lost to a hostile takeover attempt by Bethesda? Explains a lot, like why they are seemingly fine with adapting the Prey name - they don't have any choice.

And you can expect this to be Bioshock in space, just maybe a little better. That's me signing out.

They weren't forced to adapt anything, after Human Head's version was scrapped Bethesda gave it to Obsidian and then Rebellion, who turned it down. Finally, Arkane pitched their version of Prey 2 to Bethesda and it was given to them.

 

[thesoup]

The trailer didn't seem like anything all that special, but I would pay for a serious science fiction action game where the protagonist can turn into an object and move around like I'm playing Prop Hunt or something.

MGS pioneered this.

 

[DosBuster]

How this game came about, so it is very much Arkane wanting to do their own new thing and Zenimax giving them a pre-existing, dead (at the time) IP to do what they want with.

You won't see gameplay until E3 2017 where we'll get a 20-30 minute gameplay dump like Bethesda did with Dishonored 2 and Fallout 4 and then a release in November 2017, or they might put it in the May "this game has been in development hell for a long time" slot like they did with Doom.