Prey gets a video about neuromods and the protagonist’s abilities

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Some games win you over with the trailer, and some win you over with ideas. Prey, from Arkane Austin and published by Bethesda, had been showing both in the weeks before launch, and the video released in early April 2017 went straight to the most interesting point: neuromods.

Neuromods are the neural modifiers that give new abilities to Morgan Yu, the protagonist. Some are human, like strength, hacking and repairs; others come from the Typhon aliens themselves who took over the space station Talos I, where the game is set. What stands out is the choice: each neuromod spent defines what kind of player you will be, and the alien abilities open up solutions that humans simply do not have.

A nice design detail is the GLOO Cannon, a weapon that fires a foam that hardens. It serves to freeze enemies in place, but also to create platforms and reach places that seemed unreachable. Add Mimics, creatures that disguise themselves as ordinary objects, like a cup or a chair, and you can see Arkane’s care in turning each room into a small puzzle. Prey was set for May 5, 2017, on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

What came next

The game came out on May 5, 2017 and scored between 79 and 84 on Metacritic, depending on the platform, with praise for its level design and environmental storytelling. In 2018 came the Mooncrash expansion, with roguelike elements and layouts that change on every attempt, and the Typhon Hunter multiplayer mode, inspired by Prop Hunt. Sales, however, fell below expectations, and Arkane Austin moved on to Redfall, from 2023. The studio was closed by Microsoft in 2024. Prey’s reputation, meanwhile, only grew with time: today it is remembered as one of the great immersive sims of its generation.