“Ah my lady, today's gamers don't understand anything, you know! Yes, because they want single player, story driven titles with a refined artistic sector and then they leave that big piece of Prey on the shelf! "
Oh yeah, the 2017 Prey did not have a great sales success, but, despite this, Bethesda has well thought of not abandoning the project, indeed! In this year the team has in fact continued to work tirelessly on the brand to offer players experiences that are totally independent from the main campaign but still perfectly consistent with the world of Prey.
A new campaign set on the Moon? Not really: Mooncrash offers completely new locations and additional narrative content, but it does so in a very different way than you might expect. The expansion keeps all the gameplay behind Prey intact, however, choosing a roguelike approach to the progression and population of the Pytheas station. Are you a little confused? Don't worry, everything will be explained now!
For the few who still did not know the term, roguelike means a title that resets various parameters such as the conformation of the levels, the position and type of enemies as well as objects and resources at each death of the player. Here, in this specific circumstance Arkane Studios has adopted a halfway approach keeping the lunar station unchanged at each game but randomly generating all the rest of the elements. And by "all the rest of the elements" we really mean everything. Not only enemies, items and weapons will vary but also puzzles, obstacles and environmental dangers. The only sure way to continue is therefore to complete the objectives that will be entrusted to us and, at the same time, take on the role of all five characters available.
Each of them has specific abilities at their disposal, thus allowing them to approach exploration and combat in very different ways. The skills, however, will not be all usable immediately: the collection of resources and upgrades will allow the character to grow while maintaining the developments achieved even after his death. Each session, regardless of its result, will give the opportunity to obtain points based on numerous parameters and they will not only serve to measure the player's skill, but also to buy new equipment in addition to that available on the station.
The Mooncrash narrative, although it is placed in the background compared to the main adventure, is well present within the expansion and can be accessed through documents, emails and specific missions. Indeed, what happens in Mooncrash could be a clue as to what awaits us in a possible sequel to Prey! For the rest, the expansion maintains the high standards of graphics, art and sound set by the main episode although it is good to point out the presence of some flaws related to loading times in the PlayStation 4 version. A non-negligible flaw when it comes to roguelikes.
Prey: Mooncrash is a fascinating experiment, which demonstrates Arkane Studios' ability to challenge itself with ever new challenges. Let's be clear, the expansion is not perfect and some typical flaws of roguelikes, such as repetition and frustration from repeated deaths, are also present here. The development team, however, managed to gild the pill with a whole series of surrounding elements that are still important in order to entertain. Adding to this gameplay that is basically excellent, you will get a product that is undoubtedly worth taking into account.
