Skip to main content

Prey

Sci-fi action RPG Prey takes you to a world of futuristic possibilities, most of which involve having your face chewed off.
Prey Game Cover
85%Game Brain Score
story, gameplay
stability, grinding
92% User Score Based on 30,066 reviews
Critic Score 78%Based on 44 reviews

Platforms

Epic GamesGog ComPlaystation 5Playstation 4Xbox Cloud GamingXboxSteam DeckWindowsPlayStationXbox Series X|SPCXbox Game PassCloud
Buy Nowfrom $0
Buy NowGet on Steam $5.99Buy NowGet on Xbox Games Store Buy NowGet on Epic Games Store Buy NowGet on PS Store $0
Prey Game Cover

About

Prey is a single player open world role playing shooter game. It was developed by Arkane Studios and was released on May 4, 2017. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and very positive reviews from players.

In this sci-fi masterpiece, explore and survive an alien-infested space station

Genres & Tags
Play Modes
Prey screenshot
Prey screenshot
Prey screenshot
Prey screenshot
Prey screenshot
Prey screenshot
Prey screenshot
Prey screenshot
Prey screenshot
Prey screenshot
Prey screenshot
+23
Skip User Reviews

92%
Audience ScoreBased on 30,066 reviews
story5.7k positive mentions
stability404 negative mentions
  • Intriguing sci-fi setting with rich environmental storytelling and multiple endings influenced by player choices, enhancing narrative depth and replayability.
  • Deep, versatile gameplay mechanics blending stealth, combat, exploration, and crafting, offering creative solutions and rewarding progression.
  • Immersive atmosphere and soundtrack that effectively create tension and enhance the sci-fi horror experience aboard Talos I.
  • The story and main character development are sometimes perceived as slow, underwhelming, or lacking emotional impact.
  • Grinding and resource gathering can become tedious due to frequent backtracking, enemy respawns, and pacing interruptions.
  • Some players experience bugs, crashes, and occasional technical issues, which can disrupt gameplay and immersion.
  • story
    14,081 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Prey's story is widely praised for its intriguing sci-fi setting aboard the Talos I space station, rich environmental storytelling, and multiple endings influenced by player choices. While some find the main plot slow or underwhelming at times, the numerous side quests and scattered lore deepen the narrative experience and keep players engaged. The compelling mix of mystery, moral dilemmas, and well-executed plot twists make it a highlight of the game, despite occasional bugs and pacing issues.

    • “An absolute masterpiece of storytelling and a beautiful butterfly effect, I loved playing through it and it has a lot of replay ability.”
    • “Prey gives you a lot of choices, from how you handle missions up to the ending, with every action feeling weighted and deliberate, truly making the story your own.”
    • “The story telling is masterfully woven into the environment. As you navigate through the labyrinthine corridors of the space station, you uncover the plot not just through traditional cutscenes or dialogues, but also via environmental storytelling. The moral quandaries built into the story become even more clear with the game’s final twist that was foreshadowed and set up from the very beginning.”
    • “The story i do feel fell a bit flat and the ending sort of reflected it.”
    • “Story was kinda bad.”
    • “I kept playing due to it having potential, but the story just fell apart for me in the end.”
  • gameplay
    6,762 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Prey's gameplay is widely praised for its deep, versatile mechanics that blend stealth, combat, exploration, and crafting, offering players numerous creative ways to approach challenges in a richly detailed, immersive sci-fi environment. The game provides a satisfying progression system, rewarding experimentation with abilities and combinations, while its emergent gameplay and open-ended level design enhance replayability. Some criticisms include pacing issues, occasional clunkiness in controls or combat, and a tendency for repetitive enemy encounters, but overall the gameplay experience is engaging, innovative, and a standout aspect of the game.

    • “Prey offers an engaging narrative that encourages you to question everything around you, paired with gameplay mechanics that reward creativity and adaptability.”
    • “The gameplay is incredibly satisfying thanks to its flexible, systems-driven design, allowing multiple styles including stealth, combat, and puzzle-solving.”
    • “Arkane Studios delivers a mechanically solid action game with immersive sim design philosophy, providing a vast space station to explore and many creative ways to solve problems.”
    • “I can't stand this gameplay.”
    • “The gameplay mechanics also do absolutely nothing original right from the start, not only that, they bore the player in the first hour with extremely slow and tedious combat.”
    • “The combat gameplay is tedious at best, rage inducing at worse.”
  • graphics
    2,712 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Prey's graphics are widely praised for their distinctive retro-futuristic, art deco aesthetic that combines sleek, stylized visuals with a richly detailed space station environment. While not cutting-edge or photorealistic, the graphics remain impressive and immersive even years after release, supported by smooth performance and optimization on a range of systems. Minor criticisms include some dated textures, occasional graphical glitches, and character models that some find less polished, but overall, the art style and atmospheric design strongly enhance the game's tension and immersive experience.

    • “If you want an immersive sim that perfects the System Shock, Deus Ex, and Bioshock formula with an excellent spin, presented with modern graphics and in a stable engine, this is for you.”
    • “The environments and look of the station, enemies, items and overall tone and aesthetics are top notch.”
    • “Visually, Prey delivers a polished and stylized aesthetic that blends futuristic technology with a retro-cyberpunk vibe.”
    • “Created with the CryEngine over a decade ago, the graphics are nothing to write home about; but at least you are in for a smooth experience.”
    • “The graphics look ten years old; a very poor implementation of the Crysis 3 engine.”
    • “The graphics are abysmal.”
  • atmosphere
    2,431 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Prey's atmosphere is widely praised for its immersive, tense, and richly detailed sci-fi setting aboard the Talos I space station, often compared favorably to classics like Bioshock, System Shock, and Alien: Isolation. The game's sound design, music by Mick Gordon, environmental storytelling, and interconnected level design create a haunting and suspenseful ambiance that keeps players engaged and on edge. While some critiques mention a drop in atmospheric intensity in later stages or issues with combat, the overall consensus is that atmosphere is one of Prey's strongest and most memorable features.

    • “The atmosphere is incredible—Talos 1 feels eerie, lived-in, and totally immersive.”
    • “Prey's atmosphere is beyond stellar; it perfectly blends a creepy sci-fi setting with an engaging, interconnected world that pulls you in from the very start.”
    • “The atmosphere, environment, progression, characters, and story—the whole package was a blast to play through and masterfully crafted to keep you on edge, blending tension and exploration seamlessly.”
    • “This game is supposed to give a tense atmosphere and make you feel like things are crawling behind you and around you... but with audio this bad, there was no tension, no atmosphere.”
    • “Unfortunately, that atmosphere is constantly undercut by jarring gameplay issues.”
    • “The mid-game becomes a terrible slog between side quests that you don’t care about, an atmosphere that varies between generic and terribly juxtaposed, and incredibly forgettable combat mechanics.”
  • music
    1,582 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in Prey is widely praised for its atmospheric and immersive qualities, with composer Mick Gordon's synthwave soundtrack effectively enhancing the sci-fi horror setting and emotional tone. While the soundtrack is generally well-received and adds tension and mood, some players find the music sparse, occasionally repetitive, or overly loud during combat and jump scares. Overall, the soundtrack contributes significantly to the game's immersive experience and is considered a standout aspect despite minor inconsistencies in usage and volume.

    • “The music and sound design is fantastic and helps create an immersive, eerie atmosphere throughout the game, perfectly complementing the sci-fi setting.”
    • “Mick Gordon's soundtrack is outstanding, blending subtle ambient synthwave with intense moments that enhance the tension and emotional impact of key scenes.”
    • “The soundtrack brilliantly supports the feeling of isolation on the Talos space station with sharp musical cues that heighten suspense and discovery.”
    • “The music is quite bad when it's trying to tell you that you're supposed to be scared now.”
    • “The music also has some poorly programmed triggers, where a high-intensity horror track will play when nothing is happening.”
    • “My criticism for the game is related to the boring and slow zero gravity exploration outside, aggressive urgency for everything close to the end (preventing you from properly exploring some areas) and the sudden music changes when enemies get even a little bit close to you and/or you change areas, causing a quick swap from a calm music to a piano to an anxiety inducing song back and forth.”
  • replayability
    779 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game boasts high replayability, largely due to its multiple endings, diverse skill trees, and various playstyles that allow players to approach challenges in different ways. The inclusion of DLC content, such as the roguelike Mooncrash mode, further extends replay value. While some find replayability limited after thorough completion, most reviews highlight extensive opportunities for multiple playthroughs with varied experiences, making it a strongly replayable immersive sim.

    • “This is just a phenomenal game that has so much replayability, that the DLC is basically just that, a new way to play it focused on replaying with different builds.”
    • “The game is vastly replayable, with any number of different dialogues depending on your actions, different endings with various mixtures of outcomes.”
    • “Endlessly replayable, staggering polish and fascinating world to inhabit and play in.”
    • “While there's a lot of different ways to play it with abilities and stuff, there doesn't really seem to be any replayability to it, which is a shame because I'd like to go back and hit it again.”
    • “There are too many of them requiring you to replay significant chunks of the game and it's just not that replayable if you were thorough enough the first time.”
    • “It's good, but only for experiencing the stories as the game does not offer any replayability after the main story is done.”
  • optimization
    683 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game is notably well optimized, delivering smooth performance with stable frame rates even on mid to lower-end systems, and minimal crashes or bugs reported by most users. While some isolated stuttering and frame drops occur in specific areas, overall optimization is praised as a significant improvement over previous Arkane titles, providing an enjoyable, fluid experience on a wide range of hardware.

    • “Prey 2017 is one of the most optimized games I've played, with even older mid-range GPUs still reporting great performance.”
    • “Performance-wise, the game runs like a dream and looks great, with no errors or problems during my playthrough.”
    • “The game is incredibly well optimized and even my low-end computer can run it while still looking gorgeous.”
    • “Game has horrible stuttering issue left unaddressed by Arkane.”
    • “I'm getting constant stuttering no matter what I do and on top of that I'm now dealing with an issue where the UI has completely disappeared.”
    • “Bought this game when it came out, it kept crashing with horrible FPS and stuttering issues.”
  • stability
    514 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Prey exhibits a mix of stability experiences: while many users report smooth performance, solid optimization, and minimal glitches on modern hardware, a significant number encounter frequent bugs, crashes, quest-breaking glitches, and audio or visual issues that can hinder progression. Most bugs are minor and do not ruin gameplay, but some game-breaking glitches and freezes do occur, especially in side quests or late-game segments. Overall, stability has improved over time, but occasional bugs and technical issues remain noticeable.

    • “One of the few Bethesda games that doesn't need modding or feature avoidance to be free of glitches or major exploits.”
    • “The game runs great on my old i56500 and rx480, so expect it to run flawlessly on newer systems.”
    • “Bug free and highly optimized: was getting 100+ fps with a GTX 970 on max settings.”
    • “Wish I could give it a better score because it's very easy to see why the game has the reputation it does, but as of now stay as far away as possible; it's a buggy mess that's borderline unplayable without hours of tinkering.”
    • “So far it's crashed on the first objective, then refused to play; had to open the game in safe mode to get it to work. It has then been freezing on and off every 20 seconds, and now I am in the elevator it won't let me out. I haven't frozen or crashed in the elevator, it just won't open. After waiting for about 10 minutes then crashing in the elevator, the game is now refusing to boot in either normal or safe mode. Had to restart PC which is inconvenient, fixed the issue though managed to get to the helicopter and land, but then the game crashed again when exiting the helicopter; had to restart PC again. So far this is the most problematic start to any game I've ever played so far. Got stuck in a loading screen then the game froze again immediately after restarting PC. After trying 4 times I have given up for today. The game freezes every time I get out the helicopter. I've tried lowering the graphics, playing in safe mode and checking the files integrity while restarting my PC when making a change. Tried again had to turn graphics to low to get it to work but even after this it's been freezing on and off until it crashed again. I have barely managed to make it past the first objective.”
    • “Turns out there are dozens of game-ending glitches like this all over the game.”
  • grinding
    455 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Grinding in Prey (2017) is commonly described as tedious and repetitive, characterized by frequent backtracking, scarce resources early on, and constant enemy respawns that hinder pacing. While some players appreciate the crafting and scavenging mechanics as rewarding and immersive, many find the combat and exploration loops to devolve into chores, with farming for upgrades and ammo often breaking the game's flow. Overall, the grind is a significant design drawback that can make progression feel more like a tiresome slog than an engaging experience.

    • “Crafting and resource gathering that isn't tedious.”
    • “+Progression and crafting system that's not tedious and actually rewarding.”
    • “All forms of progression are tied into a resource system that is surprisingly not grindy or frustrating, but instead constantly rewarding and evenly paced.”
    • “Ammunition, health, and materials are constantly in short supply, pushing you into tedious scavenging loops that break the pacing.”
    • “Don't do what I did and try to install every single neuromod; the least enjoyable part of my experience was farming enemies between every single mission objective, turning what should have been a 60-hour playthrough with an appropriate amount of farming into an 85-hour playthrough with an excessive amount of farming to the point where the mods I was using weren't even helpful anymore—they were just an excuse to delay finishing the game.”
    • “The game repopulates areas you have already cleared as you progress the story, making you tediously re-clear the same places multiple times.”
  • emotional
    190 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Prey offers a deeply atmospheric and emotionally resonant sci-fi experience, with strong voice acting and a narrative that explores moral and philosophical themes. While some players found its story and character development lacking emotional depth or engagement, many praised its immersive world-building, emotional stakes through environmental storytelling, and moments of genuine connection and tension. Overall, it delivers a compelling blend of suspense, emotional weight, and thoughtful gameplay, though its impact varies depending on the player's investment in the narrative and characters.

    • “Prey stands out as a deeply atmospheric, cleverly designed, and emotionally resonant sci-fi journey.”
    • “Their love story, told through logs and notes, is subtle, tender, and heartbreaking.”
    • “The voice acting is strong, particularly in conveying Morgan Yu’s internal struggles and the personalities of other key characters, adding emotional weight to the story.”
    • “You can't make a System Shock successor with boring enemies, boring villain, and a boring story.”
    • “Really slow and boring story, despite the great introduction.”
    • “Boring story, cheap and ugly enemies, tries so hard to be Bioshock and has none of the heart.”
  • humor
    174 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is widely praised for its clever, situational, and sometimes dark comedic moments, ranging from witty dialogue and amusing enemy behavior (like mimics disguising as objects) to funny bugs and playful weapon mechanics. Players appreciate the blend of suspense and humor that lightens intense moments without undermining the story, with many enjoying the game's self-aware and occasional goofy tone. Overall, the humor adds charm and levity, enriching the immersive experience while providing frequent laughter amid the tension.

    • “Hilarious cut scenes based on your choices.”
    • “One of the standard enemies throughout the game, the mimic, essentially brings prop hunt to the mainstream audience, and it's hilarious seeing them skitter across your field of view and turn into a coffee mug or a book.”
    • “Quicksaving and just messing around gets some hilarious results, much like many other open world games from Bethesda.”
    • “The story is great and provides different endings that are influenced by your midgame and endgame decisions. There are some interesting, if not funny, NPC conversations to listen to or read, if you are into that kind of stuff.”
    • “Funny bugs.”
  • character development
    96 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Character development in the game is generally praised for its depth and meaningful impact, supported by diverse skill trees, various playstyle options, and rich storytelling through environmental clues and NPC interactions. While some reviewers feel the main story’s character arcs lack weight or emotional alignment, side plots and secondary characters often carry strong development, making the overall experience immersive and engaging. Character designs are stylistically consistent, though opinions vary from appealing and atmospheric to somewhat bland or unrefined.

    • “The character development you see from all the documents, transcribe calls, notes, and personal possessions makes it feel like you begin to really know all the key players aboard Talos 1.”
    • “It is filled to the brim with twists, turns, consequences, character development and it's all intertwined in a neat bundle set in a near-future sci-fi setting which doesn't seem quite out of the question in a few decades.”
    • “The character development is masterfully done, the cast of characters sometimes carries the game and it's a shame you don't see more of them somehow.”
    • “Linear game, not much character development or story.”
    • “This biggest problem: the story, character development and emotional stakes are either not aligned properly, or just plain missing.”
    • “Soundtrack was very well done and also the side characters aboard Talos 1 had great character relationships (much like you would expect on a space station), however main story character development I felt was lacking.”
  • monetization
    56 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game is praised for its lack of microtransactions, loot boxes, and intrusive monetization, offering a complete single-player experience reminiscent of older game design philosophies. However, many users note that poor advertising and minimal marketing contributed to the game's low visibility and modest sales, leading it to be regarded as an underrated hidden gem. Overall, the monetization approach is seen as a refreshing, consumer-friendly choice, though the absence of promotion limited its broader recognition.

    • “In my mind, Prey: Mooncrash is a masterclass in what it means to create an 'expansion pack' before that term was changed to 'DLC' and cheapened by scummy microtransactions.”
    • “Gotta give Arcane the respect they deserve here, many developers would opt to using microtransactions because why loot, why explore, why play the game when you could just buy blueprints or materials for real world money and eliminate any sense of progress in the game.”
    • “No scummy mechanics or monetization - a full single player game like it used to be.”
    • “Ads in the main menu of a game that is not free-to-play.”
    • “I know at first the game was really buggy and broken but they updated so much now and even added 2 DLCs, one of which we don't talk about because it was obviously a cash grab on Bethesda's part and didn't have anything to do with Arkane Studios.”
    • “Bethesda must have not had enough faith in this franchise, it had abysmal promotion and advertising in general, which I feel made it fall under the radar.”
Skip Critic Reviews

78%Critics’ scoreBased on 44 critic reviews
Skip Game Offers

Buy Prey

23h Median play time
26h Average play time
16h Main story
45h Completionist
10-40h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 260 analyzed playthroughs
Skip Videos

Videos

Skip Games Like Prey

Games Like Prey

The Evil Within 2 Image
82%10.7kreviews

The Evil Within 2

2017Open World Role Playing
Epic GamesGog ComPlaystation 5+10
Games like The Evil Within 2
Deus Ex: Human Revolution Image
92%15.8kreviews

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

2013Open World Role Playing Shooter
Playstation 3Xbox 360Xbox Series X|S+8
Games like Deus Ex: Human Revolution
System Shock® 2 (1999) Image
95%9.2kreviews

System Shock® 2 (1999)

2013Survival Role Playing Shooter
PCCloudMac OS+1
Games like System Shock® 2 (1999)
Dishonored Image
94%48.5kreviews

Dishonored

2012Open World Role Playing Shooter
Playstation 3Xbox 360Playstation 4+10
Games like Dishonored
System Shock 2 ImageSystem Shock 2 ImageSystem Shock 2 Image
95%4.2kreviews

System Shock 2

1999Survival Role Playing
PCCloudMac OS+2
Games like System Shock 2
More games like Prey
Skip Game News

WoW dev was surprised that players 'like being jumped' by the upcoming Prey system—even on its hardest difficulty, where 'going AFK might get you killed'

February 20 on pcgamer.com

Predator: Badlands has bested its predecessor Prey by becoming the most-watched movie premiere on Hulu ever

February 19 on gamesradar.com

Get 7 incredible FPS games including Prey, Doom Eternal and Black Mesa for $20 in Humble's sci-fi shooter bundle

February 7 on pcgamer.com

World of Warcraft: Midnight's new solo-friendly Prey mode will have bosses attacking you out of nowhere: 'There's going to be some really mean stuff that we're going to do to you'

December 22 on pcgamer.com

Prey And Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 Were Both Victims Of The Same Cruel Fate

November 27 on thegamer.com
Skip FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Prey is a open world role playing shooter game.

Prey is available on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Steam Deck, Windows and others.

The main story can be completed in around 16 hours, while the entire game is estimated to take about 45 hours to finish. On average players spend around 26 hours playing Prey.

Prey was released on May 4, 2017.

Prey was developed by Arkane Studios.

Prey has received mostly positive reviews from players and mostly positive reviews from critics. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its stability.

Prey is a single player game.

Similar games include The Evil Within 2, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, System Shock® 2 (1999), Dishonored, System Shock 2 and others.