Prey 2 axed despite completion.

Published: November 5, 2014 10:00 AM /

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Prey 2 PC 2013 1

Prey 2 has spent several years since being announced in 2011, within development hell. All we have continually got are scraps of info regarding publisher and developer changeovers as well as quality assurance complaints. Jason Blair himself spoke out about the game back in june 2013, stating that it was practically finished and that the reason it wasn't being released was political in nature. The exact reason for that event was unknown at the time and now it seems we can stop waiting fruitlessly. Bethesda have given final word on the matter. Prey 2 is cancelled with the new developers, and Human Head no longer working on it. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sYtVnyzVKc?feature=player_detailpage&w=640&h=360]
 The sequel to the original science-fiction shooter Prey, Prey 2 was planning a rather dramatic leap from the strange physics bending, spiritual walk puzzlement and mowing down waves of groteques alien creatures. This was in favour of creating something epic. The plot for the original Prey was never great, but Prey 2 was endeavoring to fix that. With gameplay that looked similar but better than Brink, context sensitive parkour, hunting down galactic bounties and wheeling and dealing with all sorts of less than reputable characters, Prey 2 looked set to be incredible. You would have controlled a different character, Killian Samuels this time round, though the original protagonist, Domasi "Tommy" Tawodi was rumoured to play a large part in the game. The setting was to be on an unknown alien planet, presumably the homeworld of the creatures in Prey, that would revolve around a star. Due to the planet's stationary position there would have been three different areas of sunlight on the planet, ranging from day to dusk and night.

"Kept you waiting, huh?"
"Kept you waiting, huh?"

Prey 2, being open world would have allowed players to make money by either robbing citizens or completing bounties, as well as certain missions with small moral choices.  One example was choosing to return a shipment of guns to your client or using them for your own purposes. Removing the linear progression of the previous game, Prey 2 had instead opted for an ambitious method of parkour similar to Brink's SMART (Smooth Movement Across Random Terrain) system. Also to aid movement, Killian would have had access to special boots that would allow him to land safely, unharmed. The combat had a few choices for players, regardless whether they wanted to complete missions via stealth or just all out combat, Prey 2 was aiming to be open and diverse. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPkHZfjK5z4?feature=player_detailpage&w=640&h=360]
 Bethesda vice President of public relations and marketing, Peter Hines confirmed to Nic Healey ofcnet.com at the Penny Arcade Expo Australia that Prey 2 had indeed been cancelled. He gave these statements on the matter.

"It was a game we believed in, but we never felt that it got to where it needed to be - we never saw a path to success if we finished it," Hines said. "It wasn't up to our quality standard and we decided to cancel it. It's no longer in development. That wasn't an easy decision, but it's one that won't surprise many folks given that we hadn't been talking about it. Human Head Studios is no longer working on it. It's a franchise we still believe we can do something with -- we just need to see what that something is."

Wait, is that an Asari I see there?
Wait, is that an Asari I see there?

This news likely doesn't come as a shock to most people who have been following the tragic downfall of such a promising IP as Prey 2. Some of us here at TechRaptor were still holding out hope unfortunately. The setting for Prey 2 looked quite breathtaking, borrowing in equal parts from other cyberpunk franchises like Blade Runner, Ghost in the Shell, as well as the Last Starfighter. The visuals were immensely impressive looking.  For a game that had so much promise, to see it just crumble like this when the developers fought so hard is saddening. The future of gaming is truly poorer for Prey 2's loss and we can only hope that some of the assets and ideas are reused in the future.

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Tabitha has been playing games since she was 4. The first console she ever received from her parents was a SEGA MegaDrive.
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